


The Hanahaki Disease

by Justeen_96



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Coran is Allura (Voltron)'s Uncle, Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hanahaki Disease, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lotor (Voltron) Being an Asshole, M/M, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 63
Words: 119,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justeen_96/pseuds/Justeen_96
Summary: Dying sucks. Especially when there's nothing you can do about it.---"We've been over this already you guys!" I shouted. "I don't love anyone. I flirt around, I make friends but I haven't fallen head over heels for some girl." Pidge and Hunk stared at me unconvinced."So is it some guy then?" Hunk asked."Hunk! Shut up! And no!"-x-The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from a one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals or flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. If the love is not returned, the flowers continue to grow inside the infected lungs until the infected dies.
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lotor (Voltron), Lance/Lotor (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	1. The Hanahaki Disease

I couldn't wait to start college. I was going to be independent, working towards the degree I wanted and, of course, there would be so many hot college kids to ogle.

Of course, if I had know what awaited me at Acadia University, maybe I would have chosen a different school. Or, maybe not. The whole dying experience wasn't that pleasant but.. Everything before and after that was pretty damn sweet.

And anyways, if Keith heard me say 'I wish I never came to Acadia' he might just break my damn nose and I like the way it looks so I'm just going to say this,

Going to Acadia was one of the best and worst experiences of my entire life and I wouldn't change it for anything.


	2. Roommates

_Playlist: Let Her Go - Jasmine Thompson_

**_Before_ **

I was fine with my parents dropping me off at college, they are my parents after all, but what I wasn't okay with was my four brothers, three sisters, three pairs of aunts and uncles and my three cousins and four nieces/nephews all tagging along for the journey. Having an entourage like that was a little embarrassing. My roommate was going to think that my family was crazy all showing up like that. I had tried to talk my mom out of letting everyone go but she wouldn't have it.

"This is an important day for you my son." She began firmly. "And family is important so why shouldn't they come." I knew it was useless to continue talking about it. So in the end, I had about two dozen people crammed into my new dorm. The ruckus my family was making could probably be heard from two floors down and five doors over. The younger kids were running around, touching everything and shouting at the top of their lungs. The adults were milling around conversing, some in Spanish and others in English and I sighed quietly as I tried to get everything unpacked. Mara was making it difficult though. She's my youngest niece at five and really _does not_ want me to leave.

"Mara, please put that down." I begged as she grabbed a small stack of my shirts again and plopped it back down into my open suitcase. She determinedly sat down on my clothes though, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Why do you have to leave?" She demanded.

"I'm not going to be that far away." I explained to her again, picking her up and placing her against my hip. "I'll visit so often you'll be sick of me." Her bottom lip jutted out and her eyes were watery like she was about to cry. I smiled weakly at her. She'd been crying a lot lately about me leaving.

"But I don't want you to go anywhere Lance!" She cried, the waterworks starting. As soon as everyone heard her cry, all eyes were on us and my sister, Juliana, had to weave through several people to get to us so she could calm Mara down. She wouldn't let go of me though. I held her close instead, patting her back as she locked her arms around my neck and bawled her eyes out. 

"Mara I'll promise you'll still see me." But my soft words didn't soothe her. My sister began caressing her hair and speaking softly to her in Spanish. She was telling her basically the same thing I've been saying for weeks. _Lance isn't going anywhere honey. You're still going to see him_. Mara's replies are muffled by my shirt and I sighed as I rubbed her back. There was no consoling her once she got started. All you could really do is wait for her to stop.

Mara eventually let go of me and I managed to pass her off to her mom so I could continue unpacking. While I had been distracted though, my second oldest sister had mostly finished it for me. "You're useless." She teased, ruffling my hair. "I have to do everything for you." I snorted.

"Well, uh in case you didn't notice, Mara was crying her eyes out over me." Jocelyne grinned.

"Well, don't get used to it. I'm not turning on the water works for my snot-nose little brother."

"We're not that far apart in age!" I complained.

"You're still younger than me little bro. Finish unpacking." She hit my arm, handing me the rest of the hangers for the closet. I sighed and rolled my eyes at her but did as she said. The faster I unpacked, the faster my family could get out of here and the less embarrassed I could be about them filling my entire living space.

"Hey bro!" My brother called out as he laid himself out on my once neatly made bed. I half glared at him for messing up my sheets as I shook out a shirt and put the hanger through it. "Where's your roommate? Scare him off already did you?"

"Shut up Dante. He's clearly not here. I've never met the guy." I said, gesturing around the half empty room (half empty of belongings that is. My family covered every other spare inch of the dorm).

"Maybe he won't come and you'll have the room to yourself." It was a nice thought. I'd never _not_ had a roommate but this was college and I wanted the full experience. I wanted to live with somebody I wasn't related too.

"Uhh.. Do I have the right room?" I don't know how I heard him speak over the rest of my family or how his voice carried all the way over to where I was standing by the closet but it did. Standing in the doorway was a large guy with broad shoulders and dark skin. He had a bandana tied around his forehead to keep his hair back (which, it frankly wasn't doing a very good job) and he was wearing this mellowed out yellow shirt with dark jeans. He looked like the kind of guy you wouldn't want to get into a fight with. My family began to murmur under their breath in Spanish.

_Wow, he's a big one._

_Is this Lance's roommate?_

_He has a nice face._

The guy blushed, seemingly understanding what my family was saying. "So is Lance in her somewhere?" I sauntered over, forgetting my mission of hanging clothes.

"Right here big guy." I stuck out my hand to him, putting on a dazzling smile. He smiled back sheepishly, shaking my hand.

"I'm Hunk. It's nice to meet you."

"Of course you're Hunk. How else would you know my name." He began to stutter out something but I continued. "Sorry about my family. They thought it was important for _all_ of them to be here." Some complaints rose up behind me about how this day was really important and how everyone just wanted to support me.

"Not a problem. Can my moms and sister squeeze in here?"

"Of course!" My mom said, coming up behind me and pulling Hunk out of the doorway by his hand. "There's enough room in here for everyone." I sighed. There really wasn't but.. Hey, we're family. Personal space wasn't really a thing.

Hunk dropped off his suitcase and headed back down the hallway, saying he was going to grab his parents and the rest of his stuff. I sighed in relief as I watched him go. He seemed like a decent guy. Despite his size he actually seemed quite harmless. I could already tell we would become fast friends.

His little sister was cute and around the same age as Mara. She hid behind Momma Anna's skirt the entire time while Momma Jolene tried to coax her out. I thought I heard Hunk wrong when he said mom's, plural, but I was wrong. His family is really cute, and small. It's vastly different from what I know.

Finally, Hunk and I were all unpacked and we began to walk our families back to the parking lot. It took Hunk all of two minutes to say goodbye to his mom's and sister. It took me nearly ten just to say goodbye to my siblings. Dante and Jocelyn were easy to say goodbye to, it was all of my siblings kids that were giving me problems. Mara wouldn't let go of my leg, Caleb was clinging to my arm, and the rest of them were bawling their eyes out and begging me not to go.

And when the kids started to cry, so did the adults. Before I knew it, my shirt was stained in tears and the hugging had become an endless cycle. They were just really sad to see me go. Which is understandable because I'm a hell of a guy, but also the youngest son of our parents. When the kids had finally stopped crying/were pried off my legs, my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins began to get in their cars to leave.

With one final hug, my mom whispered in my ear how much she loved me in Spanish before caressing my cheek and letting me go. "I'll be fine mom. I'll visit all the time. I swear."

"I know baby." She murmured, unable to take her eyes off me. I waved goodbye as my dad pulled her towards the car. They started shouting at me as they drove away and I waved until their cars disappeared. I had completely forgotten Hunk was even there until his hand came down on my shoulder.

"Ready to go back to our room?" I wiped at the corner of my eye with the sleeve of my jacket. They were all watery but there was no way I was going to cry right now.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Sorry about all that." I said as we turned around to head back.

"No, it's cool. Your family seems really nice. I wish my family was as big as yours."

"Trust me buddy, it's not that exciting. I love them but.. I just need some space sometimes you know?" Hunk shrugged.

"Yeah I get it."

In our dorm that night, Hunk and I talked a lot about our families and how different our home lives were. Hunk only had his moms and sister, I had a full family and _then_ some. I had lived a mainly chaotic life while Hunk's was mellow and easy-going. "I mean, its not like things came easy but, I had a quiet place to go to at the end of the day. It doesn't seem like you ever had that." I snorted.

"You're telling me. I'm used to having a roommate. I share a room with my brother Dante and Alex. Dante and I aren't that far apart in age but Alex is ten years older than me. Dante and I were ecstatic when he left for college when we were kids." Hunk chuckled.

"I've always wanted more siblings but, my parents don't. They love just having the two of us."

"Your sister is a lot younger than you." I commented.

"Yeah. I grew up alone for the most part. They only decided to adopt recently. The moment she met me, she clung to my arm and wouldn't let go. She cried when we told her she couldn't come home with us right away. It nearly broke my heart."

"Are you adopted then?" I asked. Hunk shakes his head.

"Momma Anna didn't always know that men weren't right for her." I paused. I could ask him right? We were roommates.

"So where's your dad?"

"I don't know." With such a vague answer, I left it alone.

"I'm the youngest. Juliana just turned 30 I think. Alex is 28. Jocelyne is 27. The twins, Felix and Sergio are 25. Carla is 23. Dante is 21. Then it's me at 18. My parents got married young."

"And the rest of the kids were your cousins?"

"Yeah and my nieces and nephews. We all look so much alike though that people always mistake us for siblings." Hunk nods.

"Yeah I thought so too." I smile. "Are you ready for orientation tomorrow?"

"Hunk my man, I was born ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written before I knew Lance's siblings names/how many of them were there. I just thought it would be cute to depict this whole large family. Also yes, Hunk has two moms because I thought it was cute. I saw fanart for it once


	3. Orientation

_Playlist: Beside You -_ _5 Seconds of Summer_

**_Before_ **

Hunk's alarm is what woke me up in the morning and I'm surprised that it did, not because I'm a heavy sleeper or anything but because I had set my own alarm to go off an hour earlier and it never did. I practically jumped out of bed the second I checked the time.

"What's the rush? Orientation doesn't start for another hour or so." Hunk said, rubbing at his eyes as he watched me run around the room.

"I have to look my best Hunk! There's gonna be a lot of really good looking college kids out there. I need to dress to impress." Hunk yawned and looked like he was about to keel back over and go to sleep.

"Yeah, yeah dress to impress." He flopped back down and closed his eyes while I headed for the shower. I had to look nice, smell nice and dress nice if I was going to capture anybody's heart. I had no doubt in my mind that I would find my soulmate here at Acadia and first impressions are really important.

I completed my morning routine in under thirty minutes, which is a record time for me and exited the bathroom just in time to see Hunk pull a shirt down over his broad chest. "Oh good, I thought I would have to wake you." I said, dropping all of my bathroom stuff down on my bed. Hunk turned a little red, he was adorable when he was embarrassed I realized.

"I like sleep. Sleep likes me but I know we have to go to this. It's mandatory."

"We could skip. What would they do? Track us down?" I joked. Hunk pursed his lips.

"Maybe." I snickered. "I think the mess hall is a bit of a walk from our dorm." Hunk commented. "We should leave now." I ran a hand through my hair with a smile.

"Relax Hunk. We have plenty of time."

"You were the one who was rushing earlier." He pointed out.

"True." I replied touching the side of my head and making sure that not a single hair was out of place. "But that was so I could get ready. Now we can relax." I said, pushing my arm out and around like I was brushing away his worries. "It's just orientation."

"Yeah well, I want to get a good seat, somewhere where I'll be able to hear and see people clearly and.." I cut him off before he could rattle on.

"No worries my friend!" I grabbed up my jacket, shrugging it on. "Let's get going."

* * *

Orientation was long, boring and kind of useless. Hunk and I stayed together through its entirety and the only thing that remotely entertained me throughout the entire process was scoping out the other incoming freshman and transfer students. There were so many gorgeous people that I became almost giddy with the thought that I could finally find someone that would become my whole world. I had dreamed about such a moment before but I'd never had such strong feelings for anyone before. I was almost worried that it might never happen.

Hunk was nervous about talking to people but I simply told him, "Let me do the talking. People love me!" Hunk didn't seem to believe me but I quickly showed him that I could charm just about anyone. Girls laughed at my cheesy pick up lines, some of them even decided to converse with us instead of simply dismissing me and it was fairly easy to talk to guys because I had grown up with older brothers so Hunk really didn't have anything to worry about.

I actually managed to get a girls number, I hadn't been able to do that in a while. She had short dark hair with faded blue dye clinging to her blonde ends. I think it was the hair that drew me to her. I've always liked the color blue. She was one of the girls that actually talked to me instead of thinking I was some big annoyance for flirting with her. My pickup line for her was supposed to go like,

_"Did it hurt?"_

_"Did what hurt?"_

_"When you fell from heaven?"_ But it actually went like,

"Did it hurt?" Her short hair flipped over her shoulder as she looked over at me confused. Hunk had begged me not to go up to her because she seemed engrossed in whatever conversation she was having with another short haired girl but I couldn't help myself. "Gotta act on instinct bud!" I told him. Hunk just groaned and followed me as I tapped on the girls shoulder. A playful smirk overtook her face and she turned completely to look at me.

"When I crawled my way out of hell? Yeah, it actually kind of did." I was so stunned by the turn of events that I just stared at her as her and her friend laughed. When we actually got to talking, introducing ourselves, they turned out to be pretty cool girls. She gave me her number, not because she was interesting in dating me but because, "You're sweet Lance. We should hang out sometime." And I didn't object to that. I liked making friends.

* * *

Our school put on some kind of event after orientation. It was supposed to be like a social gathering where everyone could bond and continue forming friendships and Hunk and were there for the first couple of hours but eventually, the two of us became bored with the whole thing. "We don't have to go." Hunk insisted as we began to make our way back to the dorms. "Just because I'm a party pooper doesn't mean you have to stop being a social butterfly." I smiled at him.

"Hey! We're roommates now. I'd do anything for you buddy." I swear he blushed as I said this, making me laugh. "Besides, I have plenty of time to get to know people here. The school year hasn't even started yet."

Hunk and I ended up playing video games and eating the junk food my brother had so graciously gifted to me before my family left. "You'll need it for when you stay up during some late night study sessions." I had rolled my eyes at him because he wasn't being serious. I had never seen Dante study for a single thing in his life.

We talked a lot more about our family and our interests. I found out that Hunk had actually joined the schools new culinary program. According to him, he was a very skilled cook and baker. I was convinced simply because of the way he boasted about his snickerdoodle cookies. He was a little upset that while there was a communal kitchen on one of the lower floors, that we didn't have a more full sized living space. There were only two rooms in our dorm, the bedroom and the bathroom, both of them extremely small. I was used to living in tight spaces but judging by how Hunk continuously bumped into things, I was guessing he wasn't. 

I explained to him how my dad was a history professor at the college most of my siblings went too and that my mom was a Doctor. "She worked a lot of night shifts when she was first starting out and the training and the amount of schooling it took her to get where she is now took up most of her time when I was growing up but.. She always found a way to be around us kids growing up. She never missed a single birthday, soccer match, swim meet.." I've always marveled at my mom's strength and endurance. She never ceases to amaze me.

"My mom's were the same way." Hunk says, nodding with understanding. "Momma Jolene is a nurse and Momma Anna is an editor for a publishing company. I used to only seen Momma Anna during the day because Momma Jolene worked nights. But they were _both_ , always there for me when I needed them most."

"Mom's are awesome." I said with a grin. Hunk smiled back.

"They really are."

As the night progressed I could sense that Hunk was getting a little anxious and when I brought it up with him he sighed heavily before saying, "It's just school tomorrow. I always get a little nervous. What if I don't like my class? Or my teachers? What if the students pick on me or don't want to be my friend? What if they think I'm weird or scary?" He honestly could have gone on and on if I hadn't stopped him.

"Hey! Don't worry about it man. I'm sure you'll like your classes and your teachers just fine and if you don't, switch out of them. No big deal." He sighs again so I don't think I've totally convinced him that he's got in to be fine. "And hey, if nobody likes you, screw them. We're friends."

"I only met you yesterday." Hunk says skeptically.

"Aw so what. I can already tell we'll become best friends!" He seems startled by my declaration but I'm happy that he smiles a second later.

"Thanks Lance."

"Anytime dude." I glance at my watch. "We should probably get to bed soon so we can wake up refreshed for tomorrow!" Hunk just sighs again as the two of us prepare to go to bed.


	4. New Friends

_Playlist: Ocean Avenue -- Yellowcard_

**_Before_ **

When I wake up for classes Monday morning, instead of being sluggish and slow, dreading the new day, I jump up enthusiastically and stretch my arms over my head, shutting off my alarm as Hunk groans. His first class isn't until ten. Mine is at nine and even though it's only seven o'clock, I have a lot to do before I have to head over to my first class of my college career.

I go through my morning routine methodically, showering, brushing my teeth and straightening the slightly curly edges of my hair. If I let it grow out too much, my hair becomes unruly and I look more like my brothers, not that that's necessarily a bad thing but I want to stand out from the rest of them.

"Hunk! I hope you set an alarm." I tell him as I rummage around my side of the room, finding my backpack under my bed. He grumbles underneath his covers, making me laugh as I shove notebooks and pens into the empty bag. "I don't know what you said buddy but I'll see you later!" I head for the door, waving goodbye to Hunk even though he can't see me.

My first stop is the cafeteria which, thankfully is not that far from my actual dorm. I'm a littler worried to have breakfast there, as I'm not sure if it will be any good (based off the horror stories all my siblings have recounted of food from college cafeterias) but I don't have any breakfast worthy food in the dorm so I might as well see what they have. Twirling my school issued ID between my fingers, I push open the door, hearing that the cafeteria is a buzz with noise.

Seeing all the freshmen together at orientation is one thing, having people from every grade level under one roof is another. I know that the school is massive and I'm only seeing a portion of the populace in the cafeteria but I'm still stunned at the size. I graduated from a high school that only had five hundred kids in attendance total and there was nearly twice that many people sitting in this room at the moment.

Shaking away my disbelief, I grabbed a plate and began copying the motions of everyone around me. The breakfast was served buffet style and there was a lot of options to choose from. Scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, an omelet bar, French toast, regular toast, pancakes, a waffle maker, an abundance of fruit, bacon, sausage, hash browns and they even had vegetarian options that I didn't even look at. I was beginning to think that the stories my siblings told me were just that, stories they had made up.

I handed my ID to the guy at the register and he swiped it like someone might swipe a credit card before handing it back to me with a smile. They had explained during orientation how our ID cards worked and what the meal plan options were like but it still came as a surprise to me when I watched my ID in action.

And suddenly, I was faced with an enormous decision. Where the hell was I supposed to sit? There were tables and chairs everywhere, booths by the windows and along the planters. The room was huge but that just meant I had more options to choose from. I was heading towards a solitary table, where only two seats sat when I heard someone call my name.

"Lance!" I turned to my left, towards the sound and found Aurora, the girl with blue hair from yesterday. She was smiling at me and waving me over. She didn't have the same short haired girl from yesterday at her side, but a new one with large eyes and nearly pitch black hair. I grinned as I walked towards them. "Fancy seeing you here." Aurora said with a grin.

"Oh yeah, out of the thousands do people that go to school here, I somehow managed to run into you again." She laughs before looking to her friend.

"This is my roommate, Tristen. Tristen, this is Lance, the guy I told you about yesterday." I watch her roommate smirk.

"The one who shamelessly flirted with you."

"The very same. Mind if I join you guys?" I asked them. Aurora rolls her eyes.

"No, I called you over here just so I could tell you that you can't sit with us and should go sit by yourself like a loser." I make a face at her and she laughs.

"You guys excited for class?" I ask them as we begin to eat. Tristen scoffs, making a disgusted face at her eggs as she slowly sprinkles salt on them. "I'll take that as a no."

"She's just miffed because I switched out of our shared class this morning." Aurora says with a shake of her head.

"Why the switch?" I ask. Aurora shrugs.

"I hate math and I did not want to take it this early in the morning."

"But you have to take it eventually!" Tristen complains. "It's a requirement."

"Well then I'll put it off until the last moment." I watch Tristen shake her head at her roommate and laugh.

"What are you taking instead then?"

"This English class." She shrugs. I pull out my schedule from my back pocket as I chew my food slowly. I have an English class as well but that doesn't mean it's the same one she's taking. I hand her my schedule.

"That one?" I ask, pointing to the first slot I have filled for Monday. Aurora looks the schedule over and slowly smiles.

"Yeah! That's the one. Wow, I can't believe I'll be stuck with you two days a week for the rest of the semester." Tristen and I laugh as she hands me back my schedule. "You also, coincidentally have speech class with Tristen. That should be exciting." She nudges her roommate as I put my schedule away.

"Oh yeah, I'm even more enthusiastic about it now." I hear the teasing in her voice and narrow my eyes slightly.

"You don't even know me yet! Come on, you can't dislike me already."

"I'm kidding Lance. It'll be cool to know somebody. I'll be stressed out if I'm alone." She says with sincerity.

"Yuck, no mushy stuff. We just met the dude. Hurry up and eat Lance. We have a class to attend."

Aurora and I said goodbye to Tristen in the cafeteria. Her class was in an entirely different building across campus so she had a pretty good ways to walk to get there. Aurora and I chatted aimlessly, getting to know one another. We talked about family, hobbies and our majors.

"English? Really?" I joked with her.

"Oh shut up! It's better than not knowing what you want."

"Hey I'll figure it out." I argued with her. I'm a go with the flow kind of guy." She laughed at that as we entered our shared classroom. She forced me to sit up front with her, which I only did grudgingly because I didn't want to sit alone. The teacher was actually really cool. She handed out the syllabus, talked about how classes were going to be run, the papers we would have to do and while I was a bit skeptically that I would like this class, Aurora seemed to enjoy every minute.

As class ended, Aurora had to take off to get to a different class in another building. "I'll see you later Lance!" She had called out as she disappeared around a corner. I waved goodbye, smiling a little before turning around and heading back in the direction of my dorm. My next class was at twelve-thirty which meant I had about an hour to relax back in my dorm before. As I was walking down the hallway though, a conversation caught my attention.

"Ugh, why did you do this to me Bia." A pretty blonde haired girl complains. "I don't want to take this stupid science class all by myself." I never waste an opportunity to talk to a pretty girl so I backpedaled, walked right up to them with a smile and said,

"You won't be taking it alone, I'll be there to keep you company." Her friend laughed and I watched as the blonde blushed a little.

"Well uh.. Do you even know what class I'm talking about?" She asks me.

"Nope, just give me a name, a teacher and I'll switch my schedule around just for you." Stammering a little, she tells me which class she's taking and with who. I wink at her I jot it down in my phone. "See you there then beautiful." I walk away slowly, leaving her a blushing mess.

* * *

"Lance." Hunk says with a small sigh later that night. "You're so reckless."

"I'm not reckless! I was trying to flirt but now, I'm screwed." Despite having the name of the class and the teacher who taught it, I failed to ask the girl what time the class was at and what day because apparently, this teacher taught two of the same class at different times and on different days and only one of them still had an opening.

"Just pick the one that has an opening or don't switch at all! You don't even know which class she's in." I run a hand through my hair in exasperation. She was really pretty and I did want to at least try to keep my word about switching classes. The pointer hovered over the drop/add class button. With a sigh, I clicked it.

"It's done." I said, turning to face Hunk.

"Okay, now you have to hope you picked the right class lover boy." He smiled a little, teasing me and I laughed, flopping down onto my bed. "You'll do anything for a pretty face, won't you."

"You know me so well."


	5. What's A Pidge?

_Playlist: I Walk the Line -- Halsey_

**_Before_ **

"Alright class, today you will learn who your lab partner is." I groaned, slumping my head down into my arms. Whoever my partner was going to be would hate me. Switching into this stupid science class was a big damn mistake. Not only was the pretty girl I had seen in the hallway, not among the people sitting in class when I walked in the first day, but I had to give up my speech class with Tristen which she scolded me for later by saying,

"Some friend you are Lance McClain!" Aurora, Tristen and I had a good laugh about it, teasing me for being too flirtatious for my own good but I was beginning to regret my decision with each passing day. School had only been in session for a week and a half now and I was already dreading midterms/finals week.

Why did I think I could just switch into this science class? How could I not remember that I _suck_ at science? It was probably the only thing I was terrible at in life! And everyone in class already knew this. When our teacher asked us the first day what we knew about anything related to science, my hand shot up and miraculously, she called on me first.

"The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell." I heard several groans from my classmates but also a few snickers and I laughed to myself a little as my teacher lightly praised me for my statement. Little did she know the meme culture surrounding the simple phrase.

Aside from that one shred of knowledge though, I was completely clueless about everything else related to science. I botched up the simple microscope experiment our teacher put us through and managed to somehow kill the flowers in the planter just outside the room by giving them some kind of chemical instead of water. (In my defense, both of the liquids were clear). So despite my cheerful demeanor and general friendliness, I knew nobody would be lining up to be my lab partner for the rest of the school semester.

"I have the list right here." She said, waving it lightly. Everyone waited anxiously as she began to list off names. Surprisingly, my name was one of the first called. "Katie Holt with Lance McClain." Katie? I sat up in my seat, looking around at everyone. Who was Katie again? There was nearly twenty people in this class and I hadn't really memorized everyone's names yet. My eyes finally settled on a girl with medium, light brown hair and a grimace on her face. She was staring right at me.

Shit.

Katie? A.K.A the smartest girl in our class? Judging by the expression on her face, I could tell she was not happy to be my partner. Sighing a little, I turned aback around in my seat. I should probably ask Mrs. Anderson to switch me to someone else, not that I wouldn't be a burden to them either but I didn't want to drag the smartest girl in our class down.

"Okay everyone, now get up and move next to your partner! You guys are going to become fast friends in my class." I raised my hand slowly, not getting up from my desk. "Yes, Lance?"

"Are you sure you want to put me with Katie? I don't want to drag her grade down or anything." Mrs. Anderson continues to smile though and Katie unceremoniously sits down next to me with a _thud_.

"Please, I can hold my grade up. I might even be able to boost your grade in this class." She says with a slight air of confidence. I smile a little.

"It'll be good for you to work with her Lance. You're not bad at science, you just need someone to help you understand it better. Katie will help with that."

"Call me Pidge." Katie corrects, sticking her hand out to me so I can shake it. Slowly, I take her hand.

"What's a Pidge?" She snorts.

"A Pidge is me. Kinda like pigeon." She frowns to herself a little. "But don't call me pigeon." I chuckle and nod as we stop shaking hands.

"Okay, Pidge it is." She smiles at me and it's really adorable. She kind of reminds me of my cousin Sophia. Our teacher draws our attention back to her and I try to listen as attentively as Pidge but I can't seem to manage it. According it my parents, I have a slight form of ADHD. It's pretty helpful when I need sudden bouts of energy like for soccer or swim matches but completely useless in a classroom setting.

"Stop fidgeting." Pidge hisses to me.

"I can't help it." I whisper back. "I have ADHD." Her expression softens a little as she reaches into her backpack for something. She pulls out a small cubed device and I slowly smile. I've seen the commercials for these things. Fidget Cubes.

"I have anxiety. Here." She hands me the fidget cube. I roll it around in my hand, pressing the small buttons on one side and moving the swivel on the other. "Play with that and pay attention." And somehow, it works. With my right hand under the desk, I mess with the fidget cube and write notes with my left.

"Thanks Pidge. That's the most I've paid attention in any class in my entire life." She laughs a little, making me smile as I try to give her back her fidget cube. Instead, she closes my fingers around the object, still smiling.

"Keep it. I have another one." I'm touched by the gesture.

"Really?" She nods. I hug her which surprises her because she cries out in alarm. I hadn't realized how short she was until I could feel my chin touch the top of her head. "We're going to be best friends!" I cry out. "I just know it." Pidge shoves me away lightly.

"Oh my god we just met!" She exclaims.

"I know but I love you already." I throw my arm around her and she scoffs, shaking her shoulders so I'll let go of her.

"You're weird."

"I can't wait for you to meet my roommate Hunk. He's an awesome dude. He's a cook! And a baker. He made me these really good chocolate chip cookies that you have got to try." Pidge laughs a little at me.

"Don't force my friendship McClain." She says as we begin to walk out of the building.

"I'm not trying to force anything!" I argue. "You're really cool and I want to be friends with you." Her cheeks stain red.

"Thanks. I'll uh, see you around then I guess." She says, beginning to head in the opposite direction of where I'm supposed to go.

"See you around Pidge!" I shout, waving goodbye. She waves back and I sigh happily before heading back to the dorms.

* * *

"She's really small and kind of adorable and when you meet her you have to remember to call her Pidge, not Katie. I don't think she likes her actual name and.." Hunk holds up his hand to stop me, a small smile on his face.

"You just met this girl. Are you that sure that _she_ wants to be friends with you? With me?" I frown a little, sitting up on my bed.

"Yeah, why wouldn't she be?" Hunk shrugs.

"You're really optimistic Lance, there's not a lot of people like you. You're talking about Pidge like you've known her for years." I shrug, a bit sheepish.

"I like making friends." Hunk shakes his head, a small smile on his lips.

"Speaking of friends. You should meet my cooking buddy. I think you'd like him."

"What's his name?"

"Jeremy. He's got a lot of.. Spunk in him too. He's also very loud and obnoxious." I huff.

"I'm not loud and obnoxious!" I shout, proving that I am loud an obnoxious. Hunk laughs. "Okay maybe I'm excitable and like saying things really big but I'm not obnoxious."

"Of course buddy." Hunk says with a laugh which makes me think he doesn't believe me. I shake my head.

"So Jeremy?"

"Oh yeah the dude makes a mean lasagna and he's about as flirtatious as you are. I've told him about you and he thinks you're pretty cool so far."

"So far?" I question.

"I haven't told him what a pain in the ass you are yet." Hunk jokes.

"I'm fun!" I argue. "You love having me around, your life would be boring without me." He shrugs.

"You're right." I smile brightly. I had a lot of friends in high school, at least, I thought they were my friends. We talked and hung out all the time but this past summer, they all dropped me like a hot potato. I'm not sure if they keep in touch with each other but, I don't keep in touch with them. I spent most to my summer with my family, working out of my uncles car shop and swimming. (I had to keep up my whole "swimmers body" thing.) And while I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter that I was friendless, it still hurt. That's why, hanging out with Hunk, Aurora and Tristen and hopefully Pidge have become important to me. I thrive off social interaction and if I don't get it.. Then I don't know what I'll do.

"Want to play video games?"

"Lance, do your homework." Hunk scolds as he looks over his own notes from class but I sit there silently, staring at the TV on the desk until Hunk sighs and says, "Fine, one game."


	6. Pidge Kicks Ass

_Playlist: Contagious- Orchestral Rendition -- Night Riots_

**_Before_ **

Ever since Pidge had given me her fidget cube, I've been able to concentrate better. I'm constantly playing with it under the desk or when I'm standing around talking to people, even when I'm in my room sometimes, talking to Hunk.

"You must really like that thing." Tristen commented one day at breakfast as I clicked the switch over and over, I nodded my head enthusiastically, swallowing the food in my mouth.

"My friend gave it to me." I explained. "She's really cool and has been helping me in science class." Tristen scoffed.

"You mean the class you joined, by dropping our speech class?" She was always bringing it up and it was hilarious. Aurora and I laughed together.

"Yeah! Sorry about that." She waves me away in a gesture that says, _forget about it_.

"So a friend huh?" Aurora wiggles her eyebrows up and down. "What's she like?" I shake my head at her.

"No, not like that. She's like you guys! She's really adorable and small and has kind of a loud voice. We're friends. She reminds me of my cousin."

"You make friends so easily." Aurora says, sitting back in her seat and pushing her eggs around on her plate. "I only have you and Tristen."

"That's all you need!" I shout happily, making everyone laugh. Aurora shakes her head at me.

"We have your sisters friends." Tristen adds. Aurora shrugs. She had told me about her sister. She called her the, _older one, prettier one, smarter one_ before smiling at me tiredly. I could understand that. I was always being compared to my older siblings and everything she said about her sister is probably the product of what other people had told her.

"But they're _my sisters_ friends. I don't know if I can count them just because they like me." Tristen says nothing else. They've probably had this conversation before. "Anyways, what's this friends name?" Aurora asked, changing the subject.

"Her name is Pidge."

"Pidge, that's an unusual name." Tristen muses.

"I like it. It's unique." And I liked it too. It almost suited her better than Katie.

* * *

During my next class with Pidge, we were working on an experiment, something about looking at plant cells and drawing them. I wasn't really good at that the microscope part but I could draw them pretty well so Pidge would adjust the microscope, I would look at the slides and draw what I saw and Pidge would copy it. We made a pretty good team. As class was finally coming to a close, I decided to pop the question.

"Hey Pidge, want to come over to our dorm tonight? Play video games with Hunk and I?" She eyed me skeptically, pushing back her hair.

"What kind of video games?" She questioned.

"We have Zombie Strikez, ReZort, Fire Squadron.."

"Do you have any games that aren't related to zombies?" I laughed as she wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah! Ground Force, Force Raiders, Red Streak..."

"Force Raiders!" She exclaimed excitedly, her eyes lighting up. "The new high def version? With ten secret levels and four new un-lockable characters?"

"The very same." I said with a nod.

"I want to play! When can I come over? I can bring my own controller too!" She shouted excitedly as we began to exit the classroom together.

"I knew you would come around Pidge!" I exclaim, tossing my arm over her shoulders. She laughs a little.

"You're very touchy seeing as I barely know you." Pidge said, trying to shake my arm off her shoulders yet again.

"Aw come on Pidge! We're friends." I complain, dropping my arm.

"Yeah but I'm not your personal arm rest Lance."

"Ha! You said we're friends!" I exclaim, pointing at her and smiling widely. Pidge laughs.

"Okay fine, yeah you're not _that_ bad I guess."

"I'll take not bad." I said with a grin. Pidge shakes her head at me. "So can I have your number then? I'll text you details. You get to meet my roommate too."

"Yeah he seems cool." Pidge says, pulling out her phone. We quickly exchange numbers and she smiles up at me. "Make sure to text me." I nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you tonight then."

"Pidge!" Someone shouts down the hallway. She turns quickly and we spot another grin with flowing black hair. She's wearing glasses and carrying a pile of books. "Come on! We'll be late."

"I'll see you later Lance." She waves goodbye and runs down to her friend. The two of them start talking animatedly and I wave goodbye to them. They both return the gesture before turning around a corner.

* * *

"Hunk!" I shout, steeping into our small room. "I have great news we.." I stop talking when I see that not only is Hunk not in the room but there's a complete stranger sitting on his bed, reading a cooking magazine. He has dark hair and olive toned skin. He's actually pretty cute. When he looks up at me, he smiles broadly, showing off perfectly white teeth.

"Hey, you must be Lance." His voice has a hint of an accent and he slowly stands, extending his hand to me, which I shake. "I'm Jeremy."

"Hunks cooking friend." I say with a nod, smiling back. Jeremy chuckles.

"Yeah, he's told me a lot about you."

"Same. He seems to get the impression we're going to like each other." Jeremy smirks as I toss my backpack onto my bed and sit down.

"I don't know where he'd get an idea like that. You don't seem like the kind of person I would get along with." I shake my head, trying to remain solemn but I really want to break out into a smile.

"No, definitely not. You seem like an asshole. It's the hair." Jeremy touches his hair.

"I could already tell by the way you dressed that I wasn't going to like you."

"We're dressed similarly." I argue. We're both wearing dark wash jeans, jackets pulled over plain shirts. Jeremy smirks a little and my heart forgets how to beat for a second.

"Exactly." That's when we hear a massive sigh.

"I knew it was a bad idea to leave you in here Jeremy." The two of us grin up at my roommate.

"Why?" I ask him. Hunk shakes his head.

"I told you guys you're a lot alike. That was evident by the conversation I heard from down the hallway. "

"Were we being loud?" Jeremy asks with a laugh.

"Loud and obnoxious." Hunk grumbles under his breath, closing our bedroom door which is what I and forgotten to do. "Anyways, I wanted you two to meet so here you both are. Is it cool if Jeremy joins us for dinner Lance?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" I ask with a smile. "I guess he's cool enough." Jeremy laughs a little. "Oh and Pidge is gonna come over later!" I say excitedly. "That's what I was going to yell at you about when I walked in but I found Jeremy instead." Hunk looks a little surprised.

"Really? What are we going to do with her?"

"Pidge is a girl?" Jeremy questions.

"Yes and we're going to play video games. You can stay too if you want Jeremy." I say, turning to him.

"I would but I have a date with my girlfriend later tonight." Damnit. He has a girlfriend. "Another time though! I've looked through your selection Lance, it's killer." I tried not to blush.

"Thanks man. I'm pretty proud of it myself."

"So when is Pidge coming over?" Hunk asked. I shrugged. I had texted her but she hadn't replied yet.

"I don't know, she hasn't replied yet." Jeremy, Hunk and I went to dinner. The two of them talked about how the food here, wasn't that _bad_ but it could be better. They each said they could whip up a meal better than the oven we were eating currently, all the needed was a nice kitchen and some fresh ingredients.

"Hunks really good at basically everything." Jeremy said with a shake of his head. Hunk blushed a little. "Meanwhile, I can't work a damn oven to save my life."

"You don't look like ovens are your friends." I noted, making Jeremy laugh as my phone buzzed.

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _So when can I come over and annihilate you?_

**Lance McClain**   
**Are you free right now?**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Free as a bird. What building are you in?_

"Hey guys." I said, looking up from my phone. "Pidge said she's ready to come over." Jeremy and Hunk nodded as they finished their food.

"Cool, I should get going anyways to meet my girlfriend. You guys have fun tonight." Jeremy gave Hunk and I each a fist bump before walking his tray to the trash can and putting the plates down on the rack.

"How'd you like him?" Hunk asked as we gather our ID's and phones before copying Jeremy's motions.

"He's cool. I like him." Hunk sighed in relief.

"I'm glad."

**Lance McClain**   
**We're in Dorm C, third floor, room 102**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Oh I know someone who lives there._

**Lance McClain**   
**Oooo a boyfriend????**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _No you idiot._  
 _I'm coming over right now._

"We'd better get back to our dorm quickly. I don't know where she lives but she said she's on her way over." Hunk and I made it back to our dorm, just in time, to watch Pidge raise her hand to knock. "Hey there!" I call out. She jumps a little at the sound of my voice.

"Hey guys." She says. I turn to Hunk proudly.

"This is our new best friend Pidge. Pidge, meet my roommate Hunk." Pidge rolls her eyes and moves to shake Hunk's hand as she asks,

"Is he always like this?"

"Hey!" I complain to which Hunk only sighs and nods.

"I'm sorry dude." Hunk shrugs.

"You get used to it." Ignoring them, I open the door to our room. Hunk, Pidge and I set up the fame station right away. Hunk and I argue over the black and blue remotes for a minute, which I always win (the prize being the blue remote) and as we load, force raiders, I can't help but feel a beautiful friendship forming between the three of us.

Which is quickly dashed the minute I realize that Pidge is kicking our collective asses. And she's not very humble about it. "Suck it Lance!" She shouts at me as she character beats us yet again. Hunk yawns loudly then and the three of us immediately realize that it's nearly two o'clock at night.

"Shit, you're not even supposed to be here past midnight." Pidge shrugs.

"Meh, it's not like we were doing anything, just playing video games and I've stayed over in the boys dorms longer than.." she shuts her mouth as she takes up her controller. I grin slyly at her.

"You do have a boyfriend!" I exclaim.

"Nope. No way. Nuh-uh. My life is dedicated to science, computers and video games. I don't have time for boys." She says lightly, tying up her long brown hair. "But, hey this was fun. I should come over more often."

"See! I told you we'd be friends!" I shouted enthusiastically as Pidge said this. She laughed a little.

"You're a little better than, _not that bad_ Lance. I had fun tonight." She says goodbye a minute or so later and he and I wave goodbye as she leaves.

"She's nice." Hunk says with another large yawn.

"Yeah. She's a good person." I was suddenly very enthusiastic to see how the rest of the year would play out, how our friendship with Pidge would grow. I could already tell that we were going to be friends for a lifetime.


	7. Family Matters

_Playlist: Truthfully -- DNCE_

**_Before_ **

At the end of our first month at Acadia University, Hunk ran into our room, breathing heavily and sweating, as if he had seen a ghost. I had laughed a little, asking him about it but not completely intrigued by my roommates current state. If anything, Hunk had probably embarrassed himself and ran into someone. He did that quite often.

"Pidge has a brother." I sat up immediately, discarding my book on my bed as I swung my legs onto the ground.

"Repeat that?" Hunk takes a deep breath and walks farther into our room, slumping down into his desk chair.

"Pidge has a brother." I just stared at him, confused. In the month that we had known Pidge, she hadn't talked much about her family. We knew she had one but that was about it. She was more fascinated with my family situation. It astounded her that I had so many siblings that were so much older than me.

"You can't be an Uncle! You're not even old enough to take care of yourself!" She exclaimed. I wrinkled my nose at her as Hunk laughed.

"Uh.. Yes I can take care of myself." Pidge rolled her eyes.

"You asked me how to turn on the laundry machine when it was a dryer."

"I got confused!" I complained. "They both look very similar." Hunk and shook his head at me, smiling a little. I admit, my mom always did do my laundry so I wasn't exactly keen on working either of those machines but at least I had enough sense of where to put the soap and stuff. It was just the knobs and buttons I wasn't sure of.

Hunk and I had always sort of assumed Pidge was an only child. Hunk and I rave about our siblings but she had never piped in with any stories about an older brother or annoying little siblings so we jut assumed she didn't have any. "Start from the beginning." I instructed Hunk as he wiped his forehead.

"Okay well, I was coming up here from class but I basically ran into someone on the staircase, spilling all of his books and papers and stuff and I mean like, papers were fluttering in the air, people passing by were slipping on them, it was a mess." I smiled a little, picturing the scene. "Anyways, I'm apologizing, my face is redder than tomatoes and the guy starts talking, saying it's cool and he doesn't mind. His voice sounds a bit familiar but I didn't know why until I looked at him and said, Pidge?"

"And what did he say? What the fuck is a Pidge?" Hunk laughs a little.

"No, he smiled. You know my sister? He asked and me, being a little confused that Pidge looks nearly identical to the guy standing in front of me said something unintelligent like 'yeah-huh'." I sigh.

"Oh Hunk."

"I was confused!" He exclaims. "I only managed to get out, I didn't know Pidge had a brother until he shrugged, gathered up the rest of his papers and said, 'Ask Pidge about it. She has a pretty good explanation. See you around big guy!' Then he waves and.." Hunk motions out. "Gone."

"Well I'm texting that little lady right now." I said, pulling out my phone.

**Science Bro**   
**Pidge you gots some 'splaining to do.**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Lance, English please_

**Science Bro**   
**You have a brother?**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _...._  
 _I can explain.._

"She'll come over after she finishes class tonight." I told Hunk, shoving my phone back into my pocket. I had already finished my last class for the day. Hunk, Jeremy and I had all planned to meet up for dinner after their shared class which meant that Jeremy would be able to witness our shouting match with Pidge since he had finally agreed to come play video games with us. "How could she not tell us about her brother?"

"I'm sure she has some reason. Maybe her brothers.. Weird.." Hunk doesn't curse much and he probably didn't want to say anything bad about this guy he just ran into.

"It better be a a good reason. She hid an entire person from us. How rude. If I was her brother, I'd be offended." Hunk shrugged, not knowing what to say.

* * *

I got the cafeteria early. Jeremy and Hunk's class wasn't over for another five minutes and it would probably take another five for them to get here but I was hungry as hell and could probably eat a plate of food before they got here and then just get up for more with them. I was scanning the small menu of tonight's dinner specials when someone walked up next to me. It was a guy. He had blond hair and insanely blue eyes. I was immediately attracted to him.

It's a little hard, trying to pick up a guy sometimes because I can often be faced with the uncomfortable situation where they in no way play for my team but sometimes my mouth and my brain don't communicate with one another and it gets me into som bad situations. "I always read the Menu.." I begin with, getting the guys attention. "Because there is always me n you." Miraculously, he laughed.

"That's good. Come up with that yourself?"

"I uh.." I began to stutter as he turned to face me. "Yeah.."

"My names Jason. What's yours?"

"Whatever the hell you want it to be." He smiled. "I'm Lance."

"Eating alone Lance?" I wanted to say yes. I _really_ wanted to say yes but I sighed and shook my head.

"No, I'm meeting my roommate and his friend up here."

"No worries." He pulled his backpack around to the front and pulled out a slip of paper and pen. He scratched his number out and tore off the strip, handing it to me. "Text me sometime. We can talk."

"Talking that will lead to a date?" I asked him.

"It's just a number Lance but.." He zipped his backpack back up. "Maybe, if I like you enough." It isn't often that someone can make me blush but right now my cheeks were burning red. "I'll see you around." He walked towards the line of people while I stood in place, a little thunderstruck. Wow. I successful got a dudes number for once.. Awesome!

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that Pidge had a brother and kept it from the both of you?" Hunk and I both nodded as Jeremy laughed "Well that's kind of hilarious. Why would she do that?"

"No clue. We'll find out tonight." Hunk said, shoveling food into his mouth. "How's your girlfriend by the way. You said she got in a fight with her sister?"

"Yeah what's your girlfriends name. I feel like you've never told me." I interrupted before Jeremy could say anything. He might have mentioned it and I wasn't listening or maybe he just never told me. Hunk probably already knew since he hung out with Jeremy quite often but I had only heard about her in passing really.

"Her names Aurora, Lance. I'm pretty sure I've told you that." I paused mid-chew as he continued to talk about Aurora. "Uh yeah, she seems fine now. I've been texting her ever since I left her dorm. Her roommate has been with her all day."

"Does Aurora have blue hair?" Jeremy wrinkled his nose a little but nodded.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I'm like best friends with her! She told me about the fight earlier." Jeremy slowly smiled.

"What? No way.. I'm pretty sure she would have mentioned you Lance."

"I'm offended. She's never talked about knowing a guy like me?" Jeremy shrugs.

"I see her everyday and she's talked about her friends before.." He pauses. "Actually, yeah I think she has mentioned you before. You hit on my girlfriend when you two first met." I swallowed hard, blushing.

"I uhh.. Well, yeah she's pretty.." I mumbled as Jeremy gave me the stank eye. A beat or two later, he laughed.

"It's cool man. I've been with her for almost two years now. I don't think an idiot like you could come between us." I shake my head.

"Well, she's never mentioned you either." But as soon as I say that, I know it's a lie. "Actually, yeah she has talked about a Jeremy before but it's not like it's an uncommon name. I know two other Jeremy's at this school."

"Well, I'm the best Jeremy you know."

"No doubt about it. I don't like Smelly Jeremy." I said, wrinkling my nose. It seemed like the guy had never heard for a shower before. He always stank. It was the first thing I noticed about him. Jermey and Hunk laughed. We spent the rest of dinner talking about the benefits of cologne.

Pidge met us outside our dorm. She was clutching her bag to herself, looking a bit worried as she leaned up against the wall. When she heard us coming, she straightened up but wouldn't look at us directly. "Hey Pidge." I said with a smile.

"Hi." She replied meekly as Hunk opened the room for us.

"This is Jeremy, Jermey this is our little Pidge." She only looked up long enough to shake his hand.

"Not much of a talker." Jeremy joked, nudging me a little as we walked through the door, Pidge at our heels.

"I thought you guys were mad at me." Pidge said worriedly.

"We're not mad." Hunk said giving her a funny look.

"It's not like you lied. You never said you had a brother but you also never said you _didn't_ have one." Pidge sighs, sitting down at my desk chair. "So, why not tell us?" I ask her.

"Because I was tired of being Matt's _little sister_." She grumbled, eyebrows arched down a little angrily. "He's not a bad guy, really, but.. Everyone's always compared me to him, being the younger sibling and all." Jeremy and I shared a look. It's the same way Aurora felt. "But all my teachers in high school were like 'wow, your Matt's younger sister right?' I don't like being called that. I want to be my own person."

"We wouldn't compare you to him Pidge. For all we know he's a dick." Pidge laughed a little as I said this.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make my own friends you know? You guys would get along with my brother and I didn't want you to think any less of me if I introduced him to you all."

"We promise you you're our favorite Holt Sibling." Hunk said with a wide grin. Pidge returned his smile.

"I promise you'll meet him soon, now that the cats out of the bag."

"Ah whatever." I said flipping on the power button, the game station roaring to life. "Let's just play some damn video games!" Jeremy cheered and Pidge joined in.

"Now I get to kick three asses!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, did we tell you?" Hunk asks, touching Jeremy's shoulder. "Pidge _always_ wins."

"Fuck." Jeremy curse, making us laugh.


	8. Just Keep Swimming

_Playlist: Danny, Dakota & the Wishing Well -- A Silent Film_

**_Before_ **

It has been exactly 47 days since I touched a large body of water. Which doesn't mean that I haven't showered in the last month and a half it jut means that I haven't been in the ocean, gone to the pool, waded in a lake or even stepped in a damn puddle in the last 47 days and I had just about had it.

"Hunk!" I said suddenly one beautiful Saturday morning. He jumped a little at the sound of my voice. He had been quietly reading something, the two of us sitting in dead silence so I understood why he reacted like that. "Let's go to the pool." Now, I've seen the pool. I got a tour of the whole damn area by my swim coach and the Captain of the swim team. He's a gorgeous, six foot tall guy with dark skin and dazzling green eyes. I think it's the eyes that got me. The girls from the water polo team were just as amazed by him as I was.

So while I knew where the pool was and had passed the building several times before, I had not set foot in it since that first initial tour. We didn't start practice until next semester so I didn't really have a reason to go there aside from wanting to touch the damn water. "The pool?" Hunk questioned.

"Yes, the pool." I said, already gathering my things. I'd better just wear my shorts, not the speedo. I'd freak Hunk out. Though he'd probably see me in it eventually, if he goes to my swim meets, which he should. "I'm dying to get in the water." I grabbed my lucky towel from my drawer, still folded by my moms delicate hands.

"Uhh.. I don't really.. I can swim, I just."

"You don't have to go in buddy, just come with me. I doubt that people are actually there anyways." Hunk pursed his lips. "I'll even call Pidge and her brother! Let's just go, please." I begged. Hunk sighed as I gave him my signature puppy dog face.

"Fine, I'll come." I fist pumped the air and immediately dialed Pidge's number.

"Pigeon!" I cried out as she answered.

"I told you not to call me that Lance." She said with a sigh. "Need something?"

"Yes, you in bathing suit and at the pool in ten minutes."

"What?" She asked. "Lance, I'm with a friend."

"So bring your cute friend! Let's all go to the pool Pidge, please. I'm inviting your brother and it'll be weird if you say no and he says yes." When Pidge introduced us to Matt nearly three weeks back, he had been with a friend, this guy Aaron. They were both studying to become doctors and while I know I should have been trying to get to know Matt, I spent most of my time talking to Aaron.

He had dark brown hair and a really adorable smile. I didn't think he was even the tiniest bit gay and he seemed kind of... perturbed that I kept talking to him, like he would rather be studying than wasting air on me but I couldn't shut my damn mouth and Aaron didn't know how to kindly tell me to shut the fuck up so he listened and I rambled. I really should have just talked to Matt.

We've hung out with Matt on several other occasions but I don't really know much about him. He talks a lot about medical things which only Hunk and Pidge understand, Pidge planning to be a med major too and Hunk because his mom is a nurse (mine is too but I guess I never paid much attention to any of her medical speech). He is really funny though and always understands my meme references. Pidge always rolls her eyes at us when we joke around.

Matt talks about his roommate a lot too and how we should met him. Pidge said he's a pretty cool dude but we've never gotten around to going to Matt's dorm, even though it's just two floors down. "Lance." Pidge says, probably with a frown. "We're studying."

"Study in your swimsuit at the pool. I know where you live Pidge. I will drag your ass down to that pool and throw you in." She says nothing for a little bit and then it sounds like someone starts to talk to her on her end. She covers the receiver, which is evident by the sudden scratching noises I hear.

"Fine Lance you win. Sarah and I will meet you at the pool."

"Score! I'm calling your lame ass brother! Hunk, inform Jeremy." I shout, pointing at him. He's already putting his phone to his ear as I say this. "We're making this a damn pool party!" Pidge and I hang up and I immediately call Matt.

"What up?" Comes his voice over the speaker.

"Put down your lame medical books, grab a towel and meet us all at the pool." Matt laughs.

"Who is this _all_ , Lance?"

"Me, Hunk, your sister, her friend, Jeremy, his girlfriend, maybe her roommate. And you're coming too because us guys are getting out numbered. Is your roommate around? Bring him too?"

"Shiro is out with his own girlfriend but yeah I'll come to the pool."

"Really? I thought you would be harder to convince.." I murmur, pacing the room a little.

"You're thinking of my sister. See you in ten minutes?"

"Hell yeah man! That's the fuckin spirit." He laughs and a minute later we hang up. I turn to Hunk dramatically and he laughs a little.

"Jeremy is coming. He'll talk to Aurora and Tristen."

"This is going to be the best day ever!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Hunk and I found ourselves surrounded by our friends and staring at a completely vacant pool. "I can't wait!" I shouted, stripping off my shirt and shoving my towel and bag into Hunk's arms.

"Ew, Lance." Aurora complained as I threw my shirt at her. I laughed, running towards the diving board.

"Don't be a baby! Come on!"

"Are you going to jump from that damn thing!" Pidge shouted as I began to climb the ladder for the board. I laughed, glancing over at my group of friends as they began to spread out their towels, watching me.

"It's only twenty-five feet!"

"Only?" Tristen demanded. "That's pretty fuckin high."

"I'm a swimmer! I've jumped from boards taller than this!" I called over to them, glancing at the glistening water below as I readied myself to jump.

"Well don't hurt yourself. I'm not a doctor yet!" Matt said, making everyone laugh. I shook my head a little as I decided what dive to do. I ran a hand through my hair. Before stretching a little and jumping off the board. I only did a simple twist dive, something I learned in high school but I heard everyone gasp in shock before I hit the water. When I resurfaced, they started to cheer as I swam towards everyone, laughing a little.

"Wow, you said you were a swimmer but I didn't know you could dive." Aurora said, kicking water at me as she sat on the edge of the pool. "10/10 Lance."

"Well thank you Sleeping Beauty." I said placing my arms on the concrete and keeping myself afloat next to her. "Is everyone acquainted with one another?" I asked, looking around at my group of friends. I hoisted myself up out of the water which made Aurora hit my arm for getting her wet. "I don't think I caught your friends name Pidge." Pidge slowly glared up at me.

"Go away Lance. I warned you about this." She had. She told me to stay away from this girl, Sarah, who looked amazingly so much like Pidge that it was insane. Same short brown hair and small stature. The only different was that her friend had pink highlights in her hair.

"I'm Sarah. It's nice to meet you Lance." She said, sticking out her hand to me. I got down on one knee and kissed her hand, winking at her.

"Of course it is. Nice to meet you too." She blushed red and Pidge screamed at me.

"Get away! I hate you Lance! I hate you!" I laughed as she shoved me. I stood up and moved back towards Matt and Hunk who were both laughing at me.

"She's very protective Lance. Don't piss her off." Matt warned.

"Aw I was just introducing myself!" I argued.

"Yeah well introducing yourself usually comes with a pick up line." Jeremy remarked. I smirked a little.

"I would know!" Aurora called out as her and Tristen slowly slipped into the water. "I'll race you to the other side." She said to her roommate.

"You're taller than me! You'll get there first." Tristen complained.

"Let's find out." Without even waiting for a signal, Aurora took off and Tristen called her a cheater, swimming after her.

"You guys coming in?" I asked Hunk and Matt. They both shrugged.

"Yeah, why not. Walked all this way, I might as well get in."

"Good! Pidge, get your ass up. Let's play chicken." She was still mad at me though, judging by the look on her face. "Come on! Are you really going to pass up an opportunity to push me into the pool?"

"Fine McClain. You're on. Matt!" She cried out, stripping her shirt off and pushing down her shorts, revealing an adorable one piece swimsuit.

"You got it baby sister. This asshole is going down." He nudged me a little before stripping off his own shirt. I looked to Hunk who seemed nervous.

"Do you not want to go in?" I asked him. "You don't have to be my base. I'm sure Jeremy is strong enough to hold me up." I said with a small smile.

"Yeah, don't sweat it bud." Jeremy added. Hunk sighed a little.

"No it's fine. I can do it. As long as Pidge doesn't try to push me either."

"Don't worry Hunk!" Pidge called from the pool, already on her brothers shoulders. "I'm only out for Cuban blood."

"Oh good because if it was Hispanic blood in general I'd be a goner too." Tristen said with fake relief as she and Aurora swam back to the shallow end to watch the competition. They sided up next to Sarah, all of them sitting on the steps as Jeremy, Hunk and I got into the pool from the edge we were standing by. Jeremy went over to the girls as Hunk bent down a little so I could get on his shoulders.

"You got this buddy. I believe in you."

"Oh I know I do but are you ready to go against that?" Hunk asked, gesturing to Pidge. She was currently cracking her knuckles, a devilish grin on her face. Matt had the same grin and I became a little nervous.

"Oh yeah, she's like half my size. I'll be fine."

"Go Pidge!" Sarah screamed. The others quickly followed suit in cheering Pidge on.

"Oh come on guys!" I complained.

"Woo Lance." Tristen said in a small voice. Everyone laughed while I sighed.

"Ready McClain. I beat you at video games, I can beat you at this."

"I'd like to see you try." I said, preparing myself.

"Ready? Fight!" Jeremy shouted. And fight Pidge did. For someone so small, she was pretty damn strong. It took me five minutes to knock her off Matt's shoulders.

"Woohoo!" I cried out, tumbling off Hunk. "In your face Pidge!" I shouted as she resurfaced. Except she was rubbing her eyes and looking like she was on the verge of tears. "Wait.. Did I hurt you?" I asked, swimming towards her. Pidge dropped her act as I got close and grinned, dunking me under the water.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" She shouted as everyone roared with laughter.

"I'll get you for that!" I shouted. Pidge screamed and dived underwater, swimming away from me. "You can't out swim me!" I shouted.

We spent the rest of the day swimming, and getting to know on another. The ratio to boys and girls was perfectly balanced and since we all at least knew of each other, we got along pretty well. "What are you smiling for?" Jeremy asked as I floated in the water.

"It's just nice hanging out with you guys. I don't have friends back home."

"What? Really?" Tristen asked as she toweled off her hair nearby.

"Yeah I mean.. A lot of people cut ties with their friends from high school right? Everyone I knew just.." I slashed my hand across my throat.

"Well screw then." Pidge said. "I'm glad you're our friend." I smiled over at her.

"Thanks Pidge."

"I'm not glad!" Aurora said, ruining the moment and making Jeremy laugh. "I don't like Lance at all." I hit water up at her. "Hey! I just changed!" She snapped at me.

"Come on Lance, get out of the pool. We'll come back soon." Hunk promised. He was right, it was time to leave. Everyone else had gotten out already. We'd been here nearly five hours after all. I stepped out of the pool, feeling a bit more refreshed but reeking of chlorine. Today had been a good day.


	9. Mr. Steal Your Girl (Man)

_Playlist: fOoL fOr YoU -- ZAYN_

**_Before_ **

"So what's this roommate of yours like?" I asked Matt as we walked down the halls to his dorm. Matt pushed his glasses further up his nose and shrugged a little.

"He's nice, a little older than us and.."

"Older than you old timer?" I asked, nudging him.

"I'm not that old!" Matt complained.

"Are you sure brother? I think I see some gray hair in here." Pidge said, touching the top of her brothers head. He swatted her hand away as Hunk and I tried not to snicker.

"Stop it you three." Matt commanded but we still shared secret smiles behind Matt's back. "He's a nice guy, as I was saying. Try not to stare at him too hard and don't embarrass me, Lance."

"Me? Embarrass you?" I asked with confusion. "Ashamed that you know me Matthew."

"Yes." He replied in a dead pan voice that made me laugh. His small grin a second later let me know that he was just messing around.

"And what do you mean don't stare? Is he unbelievably handsome? Are we going to be stunned by his beauty."

"I don't know." Matt said giving me a funny look. "Just.. You'll see what I mean when you meet him. Don't ask him about it by the way. Took him two years to open up to me about it. He's just meeting you and Hunk so.." Matt paused. "Just don't look surprised okay."

"We'll try not to." I said with a sarcastic salute. Matt grimaced a little as we came to a halt in front of his door. Pulling out his keys, he unlocked it and stepped inside, announcing our presence.

"Shiro! Pidge and her friends are here!"

"We're Matt's friends too!" I shouted as we stepped into the small living space. "He just doesn't want to admit it." The guy at the desk turns slightly to look at us and smiles widely.

"Hey guys." He greets. At first, I don't know what Matt was talking about when he said not to stare at Shiro, other than the fact that this dude was literally drop dead gorgeous. Was he talking about the scar on the bridge of his nose? "It's nice to meet you." He stands up and that's when I notice it. He has a prosthetic arm. "You must be Lance."

"How'd you know?" I ask, as he holds out his good arm for me to shake. Shit.. I shouldn't say good arm... But I can't say _real_ arm either. That's insensitive.. he smirks a little and I try not to get flustered.

"Matt said you were pretty sarcastic. Plus, he describes you both well." We stop shaking hands and I grin devishly.

"Let me guess, he described me as exceedingly handsome and pleasing to look at?"

"More like, Hispanic, annoying and self-centered." Pidge listed off at my elbow.

"Pidge!" I shouted as she started to laugh. Shiro shook his head and moved to greet Hunk.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Oh, great Shiro. It's nice to meet you. Matt talks about you often."

"Only to tell them how annoying you are." Matt buts in.

"Uh-huh, sure." Shiro says, not believing him. "Did you all want to hang out here or do something better with our lives?"

"Do something better!" Pidge cried out happily. Shiro laughed and bent down to grab his jacket off the floor that had fallen off the back of his chair when he stood up. I tried not to stare at his ass as he did this. "You got it kiddo." He ruffles Pidge's hair and she smiles happily. I get the feeling that they've known each other a while. She won't even let me touch her hair and I'm _very_ touchy.

Shiro piles all of us into the car. It's only big enough to fit five and he confesses he's never actually had five people in his car before. "I just got back and I don't really make friends easy. It's a miracle that Matt and I have stuck through college together for so long." He smiles, nudging his roommate in the passenger seat.

"Please, you couldn't get rid of me even if you tried." Shiro sighs.

"And I have tried." Pidge laughs in between Hunk and I. She had reluctantly accepted sitting in the middle seat but she was small enough that it wasn't too bad. "It's cool that we're finally meeting." Shiro says, glancing at us in the backseat. "Matt says you've known Pidge for a while now and you've known Matt nearly a month."

"Yeah freshman year is kicking our asses." Hunk says with a small sigh. He complains about his cooking classes to me sometimes. Apparently one of his teachers is a real hardass. He loves cooking but he just didn't think the teachers would be so hard on the students. He thought he might get to just make things he loves instead of following recipes. He sometimes recites them in his sleep. Shiro laughs.

"It gets easier guys, hang in there."

"Easy for you to say. You and Matt are almost done!" I complained. Shiro shakes his head at us, flipping on his blinker as he pulls to a stop at the curb.

"You sound like my brother."

"You have a brother?" I question.

"Yeah, his names Keith. He's the same age as you guys."

"Does he go to Acadia too?" Hunk says. "Maybe we've met him."

"Keith goes to a military college." Pidge speaks up. "He wants to be an airman. He's really cool, I've met him before." She says proudly.

"Eh, Keith's alright." Shiro shoves Matt a little before turning onto the next street. "At least he's better than Shiro." The three of us snicker in the backseat.

"You two can meet him sometime, if you want, I think he'd get along with all of you."

* * *

Shiro takes us to the mall and since Hunk and I haven't really left the college campus since we were dropped off by our families, were ecstatic to be somewhere new. We wander through nearly every damn store we happen across. Pidge takes us to this cool video game store that she loves and we have a blast looking at all the old games and taking about new ones coming out soon.

Eventually, we all get hungry and Shiro leads us to the food court where we all buy different food. Pidge heads for some sandwich shop while Shiro and Hunk move towards some place selling pizzas. Matt and I can't seem to make up our minds as we eye all of the different stands. "That's not supposed to be good for you." Matt says, pointing out a burger place. "They supposedly don't use pure meat."

"Well what else is in the patty?" I ask. Matt shrugs.

"I can't remember right now. Nothing good though." The two of us eventually decide on a Chinese food place that turns out to be pretty good. Pidge even starts stealing food from her brother and I when she realizes she doesn't like what she has, we both let her because she's just so damn adorable.

"How are all your midterms going?" Shiro asks suddenly. Hunk and I groan but Pidge immediately launches herself into the conversation, talking about how she's positive she aced every single one of them and that she has the highest grade in all of her classes, maybe even the highest GPA in the entire freshman class.

"Hey, that's great Pidge!" Shiro says with a proud smile. "You two struggling a little?" He asks, looking towards Hunk and I.

"I _love_ food." Hunk starts. "I love eating it, I love cooking it but I hate that my teachers critique our dishes. He wants us to do everything the way he makes it. I thought I was supposed to be learning how to become my own chef, not a copy of some other person." I nod understandingly. He'd be struggling with that for a while now. He wants to get a good grade and follow his professors advice but at the same time, he wanted to do things in his own style.

"And you Lance?"

"I.. I don't know. I'm not the best at things related to school. And it's hard for me to concentrate sometimes, especially with tests. Pidge gave me a fidget cube which helps but it doesn't make me smarter."

"What about our science test? We studied for hours Lance." Pidge says with a slightly worried look.

"Yeah, I know but I don't feel too confident about any of the tests I took." I say a bit glumly.

"Hey, it's fine." Shiro says with the same proud smile he gave Pidge. "You just have to find your rhythm, find better methods of studying for yourself because Pidge's route.. Is a little intense." She blushed red as the rest of us laughed. It's true. Pidge's study regime was killer.

"Yeah, thanks Shiro." I smiled back st him, my heart skipping a beat a little.

* * *

"Shiro's really nice." I said, shoving my hands in my pockets as Pidge, Hunk and I began to walk away from Matt and Shiro's dorm room. Hunk nods.

"He's a cool dude. I'm glad we met him." Hunk and I shared a look, the two of us quietly fighting in our heads over who should ask pidge about Shiro's arm.

"Okay you two, I know you want to ask." Pidge says with a sigh.

"Well.. Was Shiro a soldier?" Hunk said slowly. "He said, he just got back so.. Got back from where?" He pauses and Pidge sighs.

"He was in Iraq, yes but.. Don't ask me about his arm. I don't know. He won't tell me. He says it's not a story I should know. He's told Matt and his therapist and his girlfriend but.. That's about it." 

"Where was his girlfriend today? Didn't want to meet us?" I asked Pidge, changing the subject to something lighter. Pidge laughed.

"Maybe she didn't. I don't know where Allura was today. She might be home actually. She likes going home to visit her Uncle a lot. They're really close."

"I wish I could go home more often." Hunk says wistfully.

"Me too buddy." I said, nudging his shoulder.

"Matt and I could take you guys back some weekend." Pidge offered. "I know Hunk lives just the town over from us but.." she paused. "You live a bit farther Lance." I nodded. It's why I hadn't gone home yet.

"Yeah.. It's okay. I wouldn't want to drag you out there."

"You wouldn't be dragging us Lance. We're your friends." Pidge said, touching my arm lightly. "I have some homework I should be doing so I should probably go. I'll see you guys later."

"See ya!" Hunk and I called out as she continued down the stairs so she could exit the building. Hunk and I continued to our dorm in silence.

"Well.." Hunk said slowly. "Shiro is kind of scary." I laughed. "What? It's true. He's got this military demeanor and I always felt like I should be saying, yes sir or no sir."

"You'll get used to it big guy." I replied, shaking my head at him.

"Hopefully otherwise I'm going to be a nervous wreck around him all the time."

"You're already a bit of a nervous wreck." Hunk sighed.

"I know." I laughed.


	10. Swing Batter Batter

_Playlist: Unconditionally -- Katy Perry_

**_Before_ **

I paced the room nervously, Hunk watching me, just as nervous though I'm not sure why. I was the one with the potentially threatening information. "You're making me nervous Lance." Hunk finally admitted. "What do you want to tell me?" I stopped pacing and clasped my hands together before pointing at him. We've been roommates for two nearly three months now. I had to tell him. I had to get this off my chest. I

"Hunk.. I'm gonna tell it to you straight okay?" I almost wanted to laugh because I _wasn't_ straight. I sat down at my desk chair.

"Yeah, sure Lance." I nodded and stood back up again. I wasn't sure if I should tell him this bit of information standing up or sitting down but did it really matter? Maybe.

"Well.." I paused. "I bat for both teams." Hunk frowned, confused.

"You're in two baseball teams?" Shit. I shouldn't use analogies. Just tell him outright. He wouldn't hate me.

"No! I mean.. yes. But not like that, not actual teams Hunk."

"Okay then.. What?" I bounced from one foot to the other nervously.

"I'm trying to tell you that I'm into both girls _and_ guys. You know I.. swing both ways?"

"Ohh.. You're bisexual." I nodded my head anxiously, hoping he wouldn't become embarrassed or hate me and not want to be my roommate anymore. "Yeah I knew that."

"What?" I questioned, the tension dropping from my shoulders.

"It's kind of noticeable.." Hunk said, his voice laced with his own confusion. "You're kind of, pretty obvious about it. I think I've seen you stare at more guys asses than girls." My mouth hung open in shock and my cheeks became red.

"How did you.. What do you mean I'm.. Obvious?" I demanded loudly.

"Either that or I'm an observant guy." Hunk amended. "I don't think Pidge knows or Matt if that makes you feel more comfortable." He shrugged. "I really was only able to confirm it when we met Shiro last week. Man, you looked like you fell in love." I blushed red.

"He's a good looking guy!" I argue, throwing my arms out. Hunk laughs a little. "What tipped you off? Aside from the ass staring?" Hunk thought on it, tapping his chin.

"Well, I think it might have been when you met Jeremy. I've seen you hit on girls before, I've heard your tone of voice. You were using that same voice on him when you two first met."

"There's a tone in my voice?" I demanded. Hunk laughed and shrugged.

"Yeah man. Doesn't every one use a certain voice when they're talking to someone they like?" I throw my hands up bewildered. I have no fucking idea. "Well, I wasn't exactly convinced then. And I knew I should jut ask you, that's kind of rude. I figured if you wanted, you'd tell me."

"So you don't want to.. Like move out or something?" I asked meekly. "You're not uncomfortable?"

"No. Why would I be?" He asked, giving me a questioning look. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed.

"I don't know Hunk. I didn't think you weren't going to.. I don't know, not accept me but I was still really scared. You're the first person I've told so far and.."

"Woah, woah, woah." Hunk said, holding up his hands so I would pause. "I'm the first person you told?" He looked a little emotional. I blushed red.

"Yeah." I sigh. "I love my family but.. High school is tough man. I didn't want to come out then because it was scary. If word got out... Well, I was the class clown. If I suddenly became a laughing stock to the school." I shook my head. "I wouldn't be able to handle it." Hunk stood up, his eyes were watery.

"Stop it. You're gonna make me cry." I stood up with a laugh.

"Hey big guy! It's fine. I'm fine." He hugged me and I patted his back lightly as I laughed. I kind of expected me to be the one crying, trying to explain to Hunk that nothing had changed, that I wasn't in love with him. He was an attractive guy but I didn't see him like that.

"I'm so glad you told me!" He cried out, holding me at arms length. "Accept yourself Lance. We need to tell the whole damn world." I started to laugh, shaking my head at him.

"I don't think I'm ready for the whole world just yet. Maybe just my family." I shrugged. "Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Think that's a god enough time to let it slip that I put the Bi in bitter?" Hunk laughed.

"Maybe don't use analogies or puns. They might get confused." He said, clipping my shoulder before we sat back down on our respective beds. "Did you have something else to tell me? Aside from being bi of course because I kind of have a feeling there's more to this than just that."

"Man.. You are perceptive." I said with a grin. Hunk shrugged. "Well, you're right. I wanted to talk to you about this guy I met."

"Okay shoot. What's his name?" I immediately launched into a discussion about Jason.

"I met him over a month ago and yeah, I know, I should have told you sooner because now I have a lot to talk Bantu and I say too much to begin with so you better not ask any questions until I'm finished maybe."

"Noted, it's never good to interrupt you anyways. You always go off on a tangent." Hunk and I laughed.

"Well, Jason is this cute, almost Greek God type guy. I actually met him the night Pidge told us about her brother." Hunk nodded his head thoughtfully. "Anyways, I used a pickup line, got his number and we've been talking ever since. I've seen him a couple of times. We got coffee together once, met up for dinner twice now I think and we text each other consistently but I can't tell if he likes me as more than a friend. He's a junior, like Matt and Shiro. Maybe he thinks I'm too childish or something. I don't know how to convince him otherwise but that's kind of my dilemma. Should I ask him out or should I just wait for him to make a move?" I waited and Hunk seemed to be pausing too, to see if I had more to say. I gestured for him to talk.

"Okay, well have you ever gone out with a guy before?" He asked.

"No."

"We'll shoot, neither have I." I laughed as Hunk ran a hand through his dark hair. "I mean, you like him?" I nodded. "You think you want to be more than friends wit him?" I nodded again. "Then I say go for it. Just ask him out. It's going to be scary regardless. Maybe he's scared too, you don't know."

"True but.. I've only ever gone out with girls before. What if I mess up?"

"Mess up how? It's a date Lance."

"A lot of things can go wrong on a date."

"True but, you won't know unless you ask him out." I sat for a minute, thinking about what he said.

"Or I could just wait and save myself the embarrassment. If he doesn't like me like that, I hope he would tell me." Despite being a guy, I didn't know how their minds really worked in relationships. I only knew how mine worked and I definitely wasn't your everyday average Joe.

"Well, I can't tell you what to do. You have to make up your mind." Hunk finished off as he began to rummage around in his backpack for some homework. "I'm sure you'll make good choices." I sigh.

"You must not know me very well Hunk. I never make good choices." The two of us laughed.


	11. Party Rock Anthem

_Playlist: Menswear -- 1975_

**_Before_ **

"Pleaseeeee!" The two girls begged of me.

"You'll meet tons of hot girls there!" Tristen said, trying to build her case for this. Her and Aurora had just asked me to join them at a Frat Party. Tristen has gone on several occasions, with Aurora as her chaperone and on the nights they can drag Jeremy out of his room, they bring him too and he deals with their drunk antics.

They had asked me to go out with them before and I had always politely declined. I liked drinking, I was no virgin to alcohol but I was also trying to be a good student and study and go to class. Besides that, guys had to pay to get into those damn parties. "I know there will be but you know what's more fun?" Aurora and Tristen groaned. "Staying home and studying." I was lying out of my ass, it wasn't much fun. I was trying to joke around with them.

"It'll be so much fun Lance and it'll help us take our minds off our shitty midterm grades." I sighed. They were pretty fucking shitty. "A sigh! We got a sigh. He's close to breaking." Aurora said triumphantly.

"You can at least just come for a minute Lance. There's no harm in it!" Tristen said, hitting my arm. I rubbed circles into my temple before looking up at them, they are grinning like mad, they knew they had won.

"Yes!" They exclaimed.

"We're going to have so much fun together! Ask your other friends to come along. I'll try to get Jeremy to convince Hunk to go. We can all get drunk together and it will be fun!" Aurora told me excitedly.

"Hunk's not really a party guy." I told her with a smile.

"Neither am I but I like free alcohol." Aurora shrugged.

"Okay but guys have to pay to get into frat houses." The two girls smiled.

"Well, somebody has to pay for all the free booze." I roll my eyes as they begin to laugh.

"Just talk to your friends. Okay? I really want to meet this Shiro guy you keep mentioning. He sounds kind of hot." Tristen said with a slight smirk.

"He has a girlfriend." I said with a shake of my head.

"Damnit, why can't you make friends with people who aren't taken?" She demanded.

"Hunk is single and so is Matt."

"Okay but Matt and Pidge are so alike if I did start dating him it would be weird and Hunk deserves better than my _one-month relationship_ ass."

"She has a point." Aurora said. Tristen hit her roommates arm. "What? Ow!" She complained. Tristen huffed.

"Not everyone can have an adorably, cute boyfriend they go to college with." Tristen grumbled.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll find you someone." I told her with a small smile.

"Yeah, a one night stand at this damn party is what we're gonna find!" Tristen whisper shouted to us, making us laugh.

* * *

The Biggest Nerds In The Galaxy

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Hey friends, how do you all feel about going to a party tonight?**

The Hunkster   
The frat party Jeremy keeps bringing up?

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Yeah, no._

**Lancey-Lance.**   
**PIDGE YES.**   
**and yes hunk, that party.**

The Hot One   
If you guys are going then you can meet my girlfriend.  
Her two favorite words are Free and Alcohol

**_Older Pidge_ **   
**_Oh yeah, Allura loves a good party_ **

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Let's all go pleassseeeeeee**   
**Tristen and Aurora want me to go and I don't want to go aloneeeee**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _I have homework_

**_Older Pidge_ **   
**_Oh lighten up little sis._ **   
**_Live a little_ **

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Shut up_  
 _...._  
 _I'll think about it_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**BRING SARAH**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
😡😡😡😡👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼

 **Lancey-Lance**  
😭😭😰😰

The Hot One  
Don't fight kids

The Hunkster   
Kids? You're only like two years older than us.

**_Older Pidge_ **   
**_Actually, he's two years older than me._ **   
**_He's actually four years older than you guys._ **

The Hot One  
Thanks Matt.

 ** _Older Pidge_**  
 ** _Not a problem._**  
 ** _I've always get your back_** 😝

The Hot One  
😒😒

* * *

"I'm not sure about this buddy." Hunk said nervously as our group headed towards the loudest house on the block. Colorful disco lights flashed through the windows and people were milling around outside, smoking. I was getting hyped just listening to the sound of the bass.

"Aw come on man, it's gonna be fun." Jeremy encouraged with a grin. The three of us were dressed similarly, dark jeans, plain shirts but Hunk was wearing a zip up jacket, wary to the slightly cold night and Jeremy had on a black leather jacket that I heard Aurora say looked sexy on him. I faked gagging when they kissed and Aurora kicked me in the shin.

"Yeah! Pretty girls, alcohol, music, the whole shebang!" I encouraged.

"And Pidge is coming!" Tristen reminded us from farther up ahead. The two girls had gotten slightly dressed up. Tristen was wearing a slightly revealing top, paired with tights that she said _showed off her ass_ and as always, she had her makeup done to perfection with just the right amount of glitter and highlight. Aurora had straightened out her now, purple hair and was wearing a cute black dress I had seen her in before and a pair of ankle boots that were definitely new.

"Yeah I know and apparently so is Matt, Shiro and Sarah but... That doesn't mean I want to go." Hunk said anxiously.

"We can turn back now buddy." I offered.

"No!" Aurora and Tristen shouted at the same time before jogging back and taking one of Hunk's hands each. "You are coming with us." Aurora insisted, starting to drag my friend along. Hunk blushed red.

"Now is not the time for wimps!" Tristen insisted. "You will pay the damn fee, you will drink some fuckin alcohol and we will all have fun!"

"O-okay." Hunk stuttered out, as the girls cheered.

* * *

"Hey Pidgey! Sarah! Wow look at you two cute nerds!" I shouted, throwing my arms around the both of them. Sarah laughed while Pidge tried to push me away. "I can't believe you came to a party!"

"I convinced Pidge that we should go at least once in our lives!" Sarah shouted back over the loud music. I nodded my head, smiling like crazy. The buzz the alcohol was giving me was a really nice.

"Oh hell yeah! Parties are awesome! You guys can't just go to one." I told them.

"Awesome? Drinking cheap booze, dancing, playing weird drinking games and watching people fall all over themselves is awesome?" Pidge asked, unconvinced. I surveyed the room and laughed.

"It is!" Pidge shook her head, smiling a little.

"We'll go on, don't flirt with us I'm sure there's plenty of other girls here that you want to get your hands on." Pudge nudged me and I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think I am? Some kind of animal?"

"Yes." Sarah and Pidge said at the same time, laughing. I rolled my eyes at them but said goodbye as I wandered back towards Hunk.

"Where is the rest of them?" I asked him.

"Tristen went to get something to drink and Aurora and Jeremy are.." he gestured to the other room and when I peeked my head in, I found that they were were playing beer pong. I smiled.

"You didn't want to join them?"

"Not really a fan of beer." I shrugged.

"That's why you chug it so you get drunk faster and taste it less." Hunk made a face as Tristen came back with three red cups. She quickly handed one to me before passing a second to Hunk who looked slightly confused.

"What's this?"

"Tequila!" She exclaimed. "I convinced the guy to give me these shots." She said proudly.

"How'd you convince him?" I asked at the same time Hunk said,

"This is more than a shot."

"Yeah, its more like two shots." Tristen said, looking down at her own cup. "But who cares! Just tip your head back and let the alcohol slide on down." I snickered as she said this and she shoved me lightly. "Down the hatch boys!"

"Wait, what brand?" I asked her. Tristen snickered.

"Scared McClain?" I shake my head.

"Nope, I love tequila but there's a specific brand that's my favorite."

"Well I wasn't exactly asking him what the hell it was. But if my Mexican ass can handle it, so can your Cuban one."

"I'm Samoan so maybe.."

"Nuh-uh, you're taking it Hunk." Tristen insisted with a firm nod. Hunk sighed, and managed a small smile.

"Fine, let's do this. Hopefully I don't choke."

* * *

I got Pidge to dance with me. I guess she was a little more drunk than she was letting on. I spun her around, making her laugh under the colorful lights. Hunk and Sarah were laughing, watching us. Tristen has long ago disappeared with some dude and Aurora and Jeremy were on the dance floor too, getting particularly... Steamy. They were a really cute couple.

"Lance!" Pidge cried out. "We gotta stop or I'll get sick." I laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"Okay, switch!" I pushed Pidge towards Hunk and grabbed Sarah's hand.

"Oh I don't dance!" Sarah said, trying to escape my grip.

"Come on, it's fun."

"Shouldn't we be meeting up with Shiro and Matt?" Sarah complained as I started to get her to move with me. I shook my head.

"Later!" Except.. later never really came. I got a couple more drinks in me before Hunk and Pidge decided to cut me off and take me home around two in the morning.

"Whaaat!" I complained as they dragged me out of the house, Sarah right behind us carrying my jacket and wallet. Had I given them to her? Or did I just haphazardly take them out and she picked them up? "The parties barely started!"

"We've been here since ten and you're drunk as hell Lance."

"I'm not drunk you're drunk." I argued with Hunk. "I didn't even get to kiss a pretty girl yet!" I complained.

"Kiss Sarah." Pidge said before her best friend hit her.

"Shut up!"

"No she's right, come here Sarah." Sarah shrieked, turning bright red before bounding away from me. I laughed as I watched her run ahead of us, "I'm kidding shortie! Unless you really want me to kiss you."

"Thanks but no thanks Lance." Sarah said, her cheeks still red as hell.

"Hunk, no one wants to kiss me." I complained loudly. He patted my shoulder lightly.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Pidge and Sarah laughed. "Let's just get you home buddy okay?"

* * *

The next day, as Hunk and Pidge watched, I puked out my guts in the bathroom. "You guys are dicks. You should have made me drink water or take Advil or something." Hunk laughed.

"You were the one who wanted to get drunk Lance! Deal with the consequences."

"We should do that again." Pidge said happily. "You're more fun when you're drunk." I flushed the toilet and splashed some water on my face before rinsing out my mouth.

"Not when swim starts. I can't get caught doing that shit or I'll get kicked off the team."

"That's righttt.." Hunk said. "You're an athlete."

"Yup! It's the only way I could afford this damn school. Athletic scholarship." Pidge pushed back her hair.

"Yeah, it is pretty expensive. My brother and I had to get tons of scholarships to go here."

"I just took out loans." Hunk smiled bitterly. "I'm gonna be in debt forever."

"Cheers to that." I said, grabbing a water bottle from the bag off the floor. "College sucks."

"Yeah... But at least we can share our misery with one another." Pidge said with a smile. And, well.. She isn't wrong.


	12. Greek God

_Playlist: Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts- Brandon Flowers_

**_Before_ **

Waiting for this boy to text me back was giving me _major_ anxiety.

_Greek God_   
_So tomorrow night then?_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Tomorrow sounds good, yeah**

_Greek God_   
_Alright, I'll pick you up at seven then_

I let out a loud shout of triumph as I jumped off my bed and started to dance. Hunk laughed, watching me. "So I'm assuming this person said yes."

"Yes! God, I'm so excited Hunk!" He nods.

"Well, you've been talking to him since almost the beginning of the year. I'm surprised you haven't asked him out before now."

"I was nervous." I remind him again, sitting back down. "He's older than me. I've never gone on a date with someone older than me.." I pause. "I've never gone on a date with a guy in general actual!" I shout, grabbing my hair. "What the hell did I just do?"

"Lance, you're going to be fine. I'm sure dating a guy isn't much different than dating a girl."

"Well how would I know! I've never been on a date with a guy." Hunk laughs.

"But you've gone out with girls right?" I blushed a little, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I mean yeah a few times. But it's different Hunk. It's Jason and he's.." I paused. "It'll just be different! I'm so inexperienced when it comes to guys." Hunk shakes his head at me, smiling.

"Why are you freaking out so badly? Isn't this what you wanted? You're always so confident about these kinds of things I thought you would be more thrilled right now than anything." I sigh as sit down on my bed. Hunks smile drops as he slowly becomes concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I only really act confident Hunk. I don't... I don't really know what I'm doing half the time. I'm always so anxious about things. I don't know it's stupid."

"It's not stupid Lance. You know how often I freak out." I exhale loudly. "Hey, you're going to be fine okay. I'm sure Jason is just as nervous as you are about this date. Everything is going to be fine. You just gotta be your fun, lovable self. How could he not like you?" Hunks words almost made me cry. I jumped up and went to hug him which he accepted gratefully, patting my back.

"Thanks Hunk. You're my best friend."

"Anytime buddy. You can always talk to me about anything. You know that right?" I nodded. I did now. "Now isn't there some homework you should be doing?" I groaned and let go of him.

"Shut up Hunk."

* * *

Jason picked me up outside my dorm at seven o'clock on the dot. I spotted him from almost fifty feet away in the parking lot but I tried to pretend I hadn't as I nervously texted everyone in my phone about what was happening.

The Hunkster   
Dude, remain calm! And have fun!!

Sleeping Beauty  
Yas bitchhhhh go get that hot piece of ass!!   
I still want an explanation by the way!  
I need to know everything about this girl, you told Tristen and I so little over lunch.

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Have fun or whatever! I'm sure you'll be fine Lance_  
 _Just spare me the details later please._  
 _I don't really want to hear what's about to happen between you and her_

I really have to tell the rest of my friends about my bisexuality but I wasn't sure if I was ready or not. "Hey." Speaking of ready or not. I shoved my phone into my pocket and smiled up at Jason.

"Hey to you too." Jason smiled.

"Ready to go." I nodded and Jason and I began to walk back to his car together. "You know, you could have waited inside the dorm. It's kind of cold out."

"I didn't mind. I gets a little stuffy up in the third floor."

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean. Sophomore year, my roommate and I were hardly ever in the dorm room during those hotter months, unless we were going to sleep. The sweating was just not worth it." I laughed, trying really hard not to imagine his toned body glistening with sweat.

"Where are we going by the way? I mean, I don't really know of any places around here." I told Jason to surprise me with where we went for dinner. Which might have been a bad thing to say because while I liked the surprise of it all, I didn't know what I was walking in to. He told me to dress nice and for two hours, I had scrutinized his text about how I should dress.

_Greek God_   
_Dress nice, like for a family diner at a restaurant._

I don't know about Jason, but whenever my family and I went out to a restaurant we wore jeans and t-shirts. I overanalyzed the simple sentence so much that eventually hunk had to pick out my outfit for me because I had gotten so stressed. He just shoved me into the bathroom with his choice of clothing and made me swear to put it on. Since he took the control out of my hands, I accepted his choice gratefully. It was a red button up and black jeans. He had to rip my favorite jacket away from me though because it, "clashed with the red" and he was right of course but that also meant I was going to be cold the entire night.

"Just ask Jason for his jacket." Hunk had suggested with a smirk as he pushed me out the door, after making sure I had my phone, wallet and keys.

"Hunk!" I shouted, half embarrassed.

"What? It'll be a nice excuse to wear something of his. I thought you'd be into that."

"I am but Jesus Hunk.. how can you read me so well?"

"We're roommates. Now go have fun." With that, he had closed the bedroom door in my face. The thing is, Jason also didn't have a jacket. He was wearing a white button up and black jeans as well but there was no jacket on his arm or anything.

"It's this restaurant I've been dying to go to for a while. It barely opened like a month ago I think. My friends take their girlfriends all the time so I thought, why the hell not." He mentioned girlfriends so casually that I blushed as he unlocked his car and we got in.

The car ride was short and mostly silent, but not uncomfortable. Jason mainly sang to one of the songs on the radio and I smiled as I watched him. The song took up nearly the entire drive to the restaurant, since it wasn't far from the university and I was in with not saying much. We had a whole dinner to sit through after all. We couldn't waste all our small talk for the car ride.

"Woah wait, this place?" I asked Jason as he pulled into the parking lot. "I don't think I'm dressed well enough to eat here." I said skeptically, glancing up at the neon sign, written in some fancy ass script. I glanced over at Jason who was slowly looking me up and down.

"I think you look good." I turned away.

"Thanks." I murmured, trying not to stutter. Jason laughed.

"Come on Lance." We got out of the car simultaneously and I waited for Jason as he locked the car. I started to head for the entrance and Jason appeared at my side, casually taking my right hand and squeezing it lightly as he laced our fingers together. Holy shit. I've never blushed so hard in one night before.

* * *

"So how was your thanksgiving break?" Jason asked casually as I wrung my hands in my lap.

"It was good. I got to see a lot of my family but it was definitely not long enough." Jason chuckles but nods.

"Yeah, I miss the good old days where you got the whole week off in high school. Having only thanksgiving off and the following Friday is not as cool." I smile a little, feeling a little less nervous.

"Yeah, I mean, I like school and all but I also hate homework." I shrug.

"It gets easier. You just gotta fall into a routine. My freshman year I was a mess. All I did was study because I was worried about failing. My roommate eventually chilled me out though, introduced me to people, made me realize that I didn't have to take everything so seriously. He's a nice guy. I think you'd like him."

"What's his name?"

"Anthony. He's a senior too so you've probably never met him." Jason says, brushing aside the conversation. I swallow hard. I keep forgetting that he's a lot older than me. I can't believe I came onto an older guy and he actually liked it. "How's school going otherwise? You like your roommate?"

"Yeah, he's my best friend, we hangout all the time and play video games."

"What do you play?" Jason asked. I quickly launched into a lengthy story about all the games Hunk and I play together and all the games I've played with my brothers and Pidge and how Pidge always kicks everyone's asses. I was talking for so long, that the waiter actually came back with our food and I thanked her quietly, embarrassed as I stopped mid-sentence. "You were saying?" Jason said, gesturing for me to go on.

"Are you sure? I talk too much. You didn't even get a word in there, was that ten minutes? That's a record." Jason laughed, smiling over at me as I felt my blush rise to my ears.

"It was cute Lance. Don't worry about it. I like hearing you talk about things you like."

"Well, it's called a date for a reason. So why don't you start telling me about yourself and I'll try to keep my mouth shut." Jason laughed.

"Sounds good. Where should I start?"

"How about your family?" Jason pursed his lips. "Or your friends if you don't want to.."

"No it's fine." Jason shook his head. "My dads an ass, I don't know my mom never left him. He's a military man but got discharged due to an injury and he's never gotten over it."

"The injury or the discharge?" I asked.

"Both. He walks with a slight limp and he was always pushing me to join the service, finish what he started I guess." Jason shook his head. "I didn't want to go into the army though so I'm a big disappointment to him."

"I'm glad you didn't go, cause then we would have never met." Jason smiled lightly.

"Yeah I'd probably be eating some horrible military grade non-perishables instead of steak and potatoes." I laughed as Jason looked down at his food.

"Do you have any siblings?" Jason shakes his head.

"No, but I've always wanted them. I don't think my parents did though. I don't even have like younger cousins or anything. Neither f my parents had siblings either. It's kind of depressing."

"Well, my family is big enough for the both of us. If you ever get to meet them, I have tons of younger cousins and nieces and nephews." Stupid.Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It was way too soon to mention meeting my family! What the hell Lance!

"That sounds nice Lance." Thankfully Jason smiled and we went back to eating our dinner.

* * *

"Here, take my jacket." Oh man! It as actually happening! Jason and I had just barely stepped outside. The cold night air hit me and I instantly shivered, crossing my arms over my chest as we began to walk back to his car.

"What? But then you'll be cold." I argued as he started to drape it over my shoulders.

"I'm a lot bigger than you. You're pretty thin which is surprising seeing how much you eat."

"You've only seen me eat this one time!" I argued, putting his jacket on which was only bigger in the chest, not the arms. Jason laughed and put his arm around me and I wondered if he could tell how fast my heart was beating.

"Yeah I know but I doubt your appetites different when I'm not with you." I looked away, blushing hard as he opened the car door for me.

"Thanks." Was he doing all this because I was younger? Giving me his jacket and opening car doors? I didn't really know and I didn't really care.

"No problem." I was nervous the whole car ride back, despite how we talked the whole way. Were we going to kiss when we parted? I'd never kissed a boy before. Would it feel different? "Hey esrth to Lance."

"What? Oh, sorry." We had parked. We were back at school.

"I can walk you back to your dorm."

"No it's okay. I'll be fine." I replied with a smile. I thought he was going to argue with me. I thought he was going to say, no I have to walk you up. But he didn't. I handed him his jacket back as we got out of the car and then we just sort of stood there I front of each other awkwardly. "I had a nice time tonight."

"Me too." Jason nods his head, looking off into the distance instead of at me.

"Well um.. Want to do it again sometime?"

"Yeah that'd be cool." He looks down at me with a heart thumping smile. Wow. He's gorgeous. "I'll text you." He leans in and I think he's going to kiss me but he just gives me a hug. An awkward hug. I hug him back anyways because he has some really nice back muscles. When we let go, we say goodnight.

I gush to Hunk for an hour about the date, leaving out the really awkward ending. Then I gush to Aurora and Tristen about this amazing date the next morning, all the while, waiting for Jason to text me back. I tell Pidge and Matt and Shiro even hears about my damn date but after a week without even a text or a call from Jason I knew I and gotten my hopes up to fucking high. Jason didn't like me as much as I liked him. I guess I couldn't blame him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Jason Lotor? Yes, yes he is.


	13. Your Highness

_Playlist: That Should Be Me -- Justin Bieber_

**_Before_ **

I had just spotted one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. She was sitting at a booth in the cafeteria, partially hidden by the fake plants that divide the booths from one another. Her hair was long and white and complimented her dark skin and bright eyes. I was hungry as fuck but I couldn't _not_ go up and talk to her.

Clearing my throat and straightening my clothes, I walked over. She was messing with her laptop, maybe typing up a paper or looking at cat videos. She looked a little older than me but I didn't care. She was beautiful all the same. Hopefully she wouldn't reject me too bad though.

"Hey, have you heard of princesses?" I asked her, leaning against the planter dividing the tables in the cafeteria. She looked up at me kind of startled. Her beautiful white hair tossed itself over her shoulder as she gave me a confused smirk.

"Yes, why?" Her accent was vaguely British and that just made her all the more pretty.

"Let me give you my number and you can call me up whenever you want to be treated like one." I watched a grin slowly spread across her face. I thought I had nailed it but then she started to laugh. It was adorable and I was used to it but it still kind of hurt.

"Oh gosh was that a pick up line? That was actually very smooth." She said with a pleasant smile, turning around more to look at me.

"Really? But it didn't work, did it." I said, shoving my hands into my pockets as she closed her laptop shut.

"No. Not quite. Try it out on somebody else though. I'm sure it will go over big."

"You don't think I haven't?" She laughed again, making me smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe one day you'll nab a girl with a line like that." I nodded, encouraged slightly by her words. "My names Allura. What's yours?" I stiffened and began to blush red.

"Aw damnit." She frowned.

"Something wrong?"

"So you're Shiro's girlfriend? I'm Lance." Allura's smile was brighter than the sun and her laugh rang through the room.

"You're Lance!" She exclaimed. "Oh I should have guessed. Shiro said you were a smooth talker. Yes, I think I do recognize you now from the description Matt gave me."

"Devishly handsome?" I asked in a hopeful tone. She giggled.

"More like; flirtatious, tousled brown hair, Hispanic." I shrugged.

"That could be anybody."

"Well come on, sit down. Shiro should be here any minute. I'm sure he'll laugh when he hears how we met." I took a seat across from her and could feel the blood rush back to my cheeks as she said this.

"Maybe uh.. We shouldn't mention it to Shiro." Allura grinned.

"Oh he won't be mad. He'll probably laugh too."

"That's what I'm afraid of." The two of us shared a smile. "I should have guessed you were his girlfriend. His description of you is perfect, tall, dark, beautiful, shockingly white hair." Allura nodded.

"The hair should have been a dead giveaway."

"I guess I got too caught up in how pretty you are."

"That's very kind of you to say Lance." Allura said pleasantly, smiling. "Do you always walk up to girls you find beautiful and just, toss out a flirtatious line?" She asked. I nodded.

"For the most part. And since I think everyone is pretty hot it's a little hard to start conversations without a pickup line thrown in." Allura laughs again.

"You're bisexual then?" She asked. I blushed red and tensed up, my posture instantly becoming guarded.

"I uhh.."

"Oh I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry for asking. You just said you find everyone hot but I shouldn't have assumed." Allura said in a soft tone. "We're not _nearly_ close enough yet for me to be asking you that, I'm sorry." 

"No, it's fine." I said, my voice cracking a little. She smiled as I cleared my throat.

"Well, are you here to eat lunch Lance?" I nodded a little, feeling my stomach tighten. I still had to eat. I had a class in about an hour. "Well, go get some food and come back here to join Shiro and I. I see him in line right now." I glanced over towards the cafeteria line and spotted Shiro immediately. I had like, a radar for hot people. He was staring at us quizzically and waved lightly when I caught his eye. Finger gunning it in his direction, I smiled to Allura before getting back up.

"I'll grab food, your boyfriend and be right back." I said with a smile.

"Thank you Lance. See you in a couple of minutes." She waved and opened up her laptop again.

Striding over to Shiro, I called out to him saying, "Your girlfriend is really nice." He smiled lightly.

"Yeah, she's great. I love her. Did you know it was her when you walked in?" He asked. I shrugged.

"The description you gave fo her was pretty accurate. Although you downplayed how cool her hair is." Shiro smiles, glancing over at Allura.

"Yeah, her hair is gorgeous." Man, he really loves her, I've never seen Shiro smile so goofily. He's always so stoic. I nudged him slightly.

"Your turn to order buddy." Shiro snapped out of his daze and ordered as I looked over the menu. I cringed a little when I realized what they were serving. It was the same kind of stuff they had when I first met Jason in this damn line. Man... Fuck Jason...

I ordered my food and followed Shiro back to Allura's table. The three of us ate and talked about our friends for the most part and about finals that were coming soon. Allura also brought up the frat party we all went to and how she never got to met Hunk and I. "You two left with Pidge before things got too crazy in there."

"Yeah I was already drunk and Hunk didn't want to have to deal with my ass later." I shrugged. "It's a good thing he got me out of there while he did though I'm a crazy drunk."

"And flirtatious." Shiro noted.

"What?" I questioned, glancing over at him confused. I don't really remember flirting with anyone. Shiro nods, taking a sip of his drink.

"You were so drunk you started flirting with me for a bit." My face instantly became red. What the fuck. Nobody told me that. Hunk! I thought we were friends!

"What?" I whispered as Allura tried to to giggle. "Did you try to stop me? I'm sorry Shiro. Oh my god." I said, beginning to freak out.

"It was fine. You didn't get very far. You were like in the middle of a pick up line and then Aurora came and got you." I clutch my forehead in disbelief,

"I don't remember any of that."

"You were drunk." Allura couldn't hold it back any longer, she busted out laughing and I nervously laughed with her.

"What was the pick up line?" Allura asked. "Maybe Lance knows the rest of it." I shook my head at her as Shiro began to ponder the question.

"I think he said "Nice package. Let me.." But he never finished it." I dropped my head into my arms and wanted to scream. My face was so red I could have been on fire for all I knew.

"What's the rest Lance?" Allura asked excitedly. I mumbled out my reply and she laughed and pushed my arm a little. "Come on, I won't make fun of you. I swear." I sighed and lifted my head slowly.

"Nice package. Can I unwrap it for you." Shiro's face turned red in embarrassment and Allura started to laugh again as the two of us sat there awkwardly. I guess he wasn't expecting it to be a sexual innuendo.

"I love it Lance! Oh my gosh, you got him to blush. That's so rare." Allura said, touching her boyfriends cheek. Shiro cleared his throat as I began to stand up. "Oh no, Lance don't leave."

"Well, I do have a class to get to so I feel like this is my cue to leave." I replied, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Oh alright. We'll see you soon though okay? It was lovely to meet you!" Allura said with a broad smile as I picked up my plate. I nodded and waved goodbye t the two of them.

"I'll see you guys later." I picked up my backpack and headed to the trash can. As I turned around, and headed for the nearest exit, I heard a familiar laugh. I knew I shouldn't have looked but my head swung involuntarily. Jason was sitting at a table with several other older looking students. They were all laughing, talking and Jason had his arm over the back of some guys chair. My heart skipped a beat and my face flushed red. I booked it out of the room before he could catch me staring.

All through class though, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Who was that guy he was with? Was it his boyfriend? Were they just friends? Was it a casual thing? Maybe they were on and off and Jason went on a date with me to make him jealous. Did I mean nothing to him then? Did Jason only talk to me to make someone jealous? I was so anxious the entire class period that I couldn't focus, despite the fidget cube. And when I finally got back to the dorm, I couldn't take it anymore. I had built up this whole scenario in my head and now I couldn't let it go. I spilled my guts to Hunk.

"I think I'm cursed Hunk." He gave me a funny look.

"Cursed how?"

"Ever since my failed date with Jason, none of my pick up lines have been working. Either I accidentally hit on a straight dude and nearly get punched in the face or a girl who is already taken nearly throws food in my face."

"Are you talking about Aurora for that last one?" I rolled my eyes, it sounds like one thing she would do but it's not her I'm talking about.

"No the girl in cafeteria three days ago?" Hunk thought for a second.

"Oh right. She was pissed. I liked your line though Lance. It was cute."

"I'm glad you think so buddy." I said, dejectedly sitting on my bed. "Cause nobody else seems to like them." Hunk opened his mouth to speak but I kept going. "I've lost my mojo Hunk! All because of that stupid fucking Jason who stopped talking to me. I don't even know what I did wrong? I talked too much at dinner yeah, my outfit was a little lackluster and I guess I chose the wrong thing to eat but..."

"Hey, I picked out that outfit. You looked good Lance." Hunk argued.

"Then why didn't he call me back! Why didn't he talk to me ever again? What did I do wrong?" I was shaking a little and trying not to cry. My first date with a guy and it's a disaster. What if all of my dates with guys end up like that? Why couldn't I just solely like girls? Why did I have to like both? Why couldn't I be fucking normal?

"Lance, there's nothing you did or didn't do that was wrong." Hunk said sorry, sitting next to me on my bed. "Jason is a jerk for not talking to you again but that doesn't mean every date you go on after that one will end in disaster. You can't possibly know that."

"I do. I can feel it." I argued. "I'm not going to try to date a guy again."

"Lance.."

"It hurt Hunk! You knew how excited I was! I've never been on a date with a guy before and I thought this one went really well and then... nothing. I was right it stay hidden in high school. I should have just kept it that way here too."

"Lance you idiot." Hunk said wrapping me up in a hug. "You're overthinking and letting your anxiety get the best of you. I would know. I'm pro at that." I laughed as I hugged him back and tried not to cry. "It's good that you told someone. Nothings wrong with you Lance." It's like he could read my fucking mind. "And hey, as soon as finals are over, we get to go home for Christmas and you can forget all about that asshole."

"You're my best friend." I said, clinging to his shirt.

"You're my best friend too buddy."


	14. White Christmas

_Playlist: Stone Cold -- Demo Lovato_

**_Before_ **

Finals were over, I was all packed up, and any minute now my parents would arrive to take me home. I had already said a slightly tearful goodbye to Matt and Pidge the day before. Matt had a car so they were leaving as soon as Pidge got out of her last final. Shiro was gone by then as well. He had to go pick up his brother from whatever military college he's at. And Hunk had just left a couple of hours ago so I was bored out of my mind and texting Aurora who was going to be stuck at Acadia over the weekend while she waited for her sister to finish up the work she had to do for campus job.

_Sleeping Beauty_   
_You suckkkkkk._   
_You could've stayed a day longer and hung out with me but noooooo_

**Lancey-Lance**  
 **I know! I'm sorry.**  
 **I just really miss my family.** ☹️

_Sleeping Beauty_   
_Ugh. Me too surprisingly._   
_I'll just be bored out of my mind here alone._

**Lancey-Lance**   
**You'll have your sister!!**

_Sleeping Beauty_  
😒😒😒😒😒😒

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Yeahhhhh Sorry.**

_Sleeping Beauty_   
_It's whatever_

A knock at my door got my attention and I shot up, excited. I could hear familiar voices on the other side of it. When I threw open the door, my parents stood there and I was so happy, I could have cried. My mom did end up crying as I hugged her and I let her before we gathered up all my stuff and headed down to the car.

"We're so glad you're coming home son." My dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder as we finished loading my duffle stuff into the trunk.

"I'm glad too."

* * *

"Hey Connor!" I couldn't believe it, my old best friend. I hadn't seen him in over a year. I waved, quickly making my way towards him across the crowded mall, my brother in tow who started to complain immensely.

"You can talk to your friends later Lance." Dante said.

"I haven't seen them in forever. Connor! Austin!" He was with out other friends. All of them were here. Wow I couldn't believe it! It had been so long.

"Oh, hey Lance." Austin said. Connor turned to look at him and Austin dropped his smile. I couldn't see Connor's face but I could tell that something was wrong.

"Sorry were uh busy Lance. We can catch up later yeah?" Connor said before I could even ask how they were doing.

"But we haven't seen each other in over a year."

"Yeah, we know." Connor replied bluntly. I swallowed hard, trying not to look upset. I knew my friends cut me off but I never understood why. They never said anything. I never got an explanation.

"Well uhh can't we just talk, for a little bit." Austin opened his mouth but Connor quickly but in.

"Look, we have to go." Connor started to march away but I grabbed his arm. Connor and I have known each other since we were in third grade why was he acting like this?

"Buddy what happened? Did I do something? Why did you all stop talking to me?" Connor pulled his arm back.

"Don't touch me. We know Lance."

"Know... know what?" I stammered out, my heart racing in my chest.

"That you're gay."

"I'm not..." Dante didn't know yet. Dante didn't know yet. Dante didn't know yet. Dante was standing right behind me.

"Yeah, yeah you're bisexual or whatever. I don't care. It's weird. It's gross. I don't want to hangout with you. I can't believe you kept on being friends with us and didn't say anything. How many times have we all changed together? You're a fucking pervert Lance."

"What?" I whispered. "How did.." I never told anyone. I never told anyone. I never told anyone. I never even tried to hint at it in high school.

"Doesn't matter how we found out but you just confirmed that we were right. Come on Austin." Austin had a pained expression in his face, like he hadn't agreed to this. But he walked away with Connor anyways.

"Yeah well, you're not my fucking type!" I shouted at Connor's back. "I thought we were friends!" They just kept walking until they disappeared in the crowd. I almost started to cry until I felt my brothers hand on my shoulder.

"Lance." He murmured.

"Don't say anything."

"But Lance.."

"Dante, don't. Please." I begged, wiping at my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket. I guess that explains why Connor and Austin never talked to me? But what about Ashley and Monica? They wouldn't have cared right? Maybe it was something else too. Maybe I was just really fucking annoying. Maybe all my playful flirting pissed them off. Maybe they were sick and tired of my dumb ass jokes. Maybe...

"I can beat them up for you if you like."

"Dante shut up." I said, trying not to laugh at his comment.

"What? I got a mean right swing. I'll punch those nasty ass teenagers don't think I won't." This time I actually did laugh, imagining my brother wailing on my ex-best friends.

"Dante.." I said slowly as we began to walk away from the cafeteria.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Please don't tell Mom and dad." I murmured. "I... I want to do it but I'm not ready." Dante put his arm around em and ruffled my hair. I shoved him back as he laughed.

"Of course I won't little bro. You're ready when you're ready and clearly you're not. It's fine." I smiled a little, staring at the ground.

The Biggest Nerds In The Galaxy

Daddddyyyy  
So how is everyone's Christmas break going??

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Aww dadddd worried about us??**

The Hunkster   
He's not our dad Lance.    
My break is going great! I tried out this recipe for this really good bread.    
I'll make you all some when we go back to school

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Awesome Hunk! I loveeee when you make us food_ 😊

_ Princess  _ 👑   
_ Did you call my boyfriend dad Lance???? _

**_Doctor Whoooo???_ **   
**_Yeah he's a weird one_ **

**Lancey-Lance.**   
**Yup.**

Daddddyyyy  
I just wanted to know how everyone was 🤦🏻‍♂️

**_Doctor Whoooo???_ **   
**_Well I'm good dad! Thanks for asking_ **

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Please stop, both of you._

I laid in bed dejectedly, playing a dumb game on my phone and thinking about my friends. Hunk, Pidge and Matt had gotten together recently and had invited me but I didn't have any way to go see them. They FaceTimed me while they were altogether though but that only made me sad that I couldn't hang out with them.

Ever since I had seen Connor and Austin at the mall, I had been upset. My parents could tell something was wrong and tried talking to me about it but I wouldn't open up. Dante didn't bring it up again, though I knew he wanted to but I appreciated that he didn't say anything. I _really_ didn't want to talk about it.

"Lance!" My Mom calls. "Ven aquí cariño!"

"Okay momma!" I call back, dragging myself out of bed. Maybe she wants help with cleaning or something. I'm wearing sweatpants and an old shirt so I don't mind helping her. When I enter the hallway though, I hear two very familiar voices that don't belong to family members.

"Lance! Buddy!" My Mom smiles broadly as my friend come towards me.

"Hunk? Pidge? What are you...? Oof.." Pidge runs up and hugs me, slamming into my chest which is a little surprising because she normally doesn't like hugs. I hug her back, touching her hair lightly to make sure she's real. "What are you doing here?" I a as she lets go and let's Hunk go in for a hug. He squeezes me tightly, almost to He point where I can't breathe before he lets go.

"They said they wanted to surprise you with a visit. Why not you all go out! You haven't been out of the house in a long time Lance." Pidge and Hunk haven't said anything yet, they're just smiling at me which feels a bit suspicious.

"Okay, Yeah did you drive here Hunk?" He nods.

"I borrowed Momma Anna's car, picked up Pidge and here we are! Matt would have come too but he's helping Pidge's parents with this thing that.. Pidge what was it?" Hunk asks.

"It's this medical test. I'd tell you the details but I don't really think you'd know what I was saying." I shrugged.

"You're probably right. Well, I'll get changed then. We can go to.." I almost said the mall. "This cool food palace nearby." I was not going to go to the damn mall. We were going to go to the plaza. Although, I could probably run into my old friends there too.

Dante was in our room when I got there and somehow, I knew. He had something to do with this. I frowned. "You called my friends?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, I texted them. Hunks really nice. He was worried about you already. He said he could tell something was wrong with you too, even though you two have only been texting." How was Hunk so intuitive?

"You didn't have to do that. I'm fine."

"You've been mopping around her all day since..." he stopped and shook his head. "I didn't want you to just sit here all break Lance, with nothing to do. Go out with your friends, have fun." I slowly started to change, pulling on some jeans a different shirt and a jacket.

"Sometimes you really suck you know." I told him as I grabbed my shoes.

"But you love me anyways." I scoffed.

"Debatable." I walked back out to the hallway where Pidge and Hunk were still conversing with my mom.

"Te ves lindo cariño." She said before kissing my hair.

"Mamma." I complained before she ushered my friends and I outside. Hunk was snickering, having understood what she said while Pidge kept asking what had made me blush.

"Be home for dinner you three!" She calls out.

"Are you guys staying that long?" I ask as Hunk pulls out his keys.

"Yeah, we'll be here until six probably. It only takes two hours to get back home for us."

"Exactly. Two hours. You guys should just sleep over if you want."

"Oh good. I'm glad he suggested it." Pidge said as she opened the back passenger door for Hunks car. There were overnight bags in the back and I laughed, recognizing one as Hunks.

"You guys could have just asked. My parents won't mind. They'll be thrilled to have you here overnight. We can all play video games too. My brother has extra controllers."

"Awesome cause I have the new Last Survivors game and we should play it." Pidge says as we all buckle up.

"You do? Oh my god I've been dying to play that!" Hunk shouts excitedly. Their easy chatter makes me smile. I've missed them. It's only been a week but I've gotten so used to seeing the two of them everyday. Pidge glances over at me.

"You okay Lance?" She asks gently, smiling. Hunk glances back to, even though he should be focusing on the road.

"Yeah. I'm much better now."

"Good. Can we go eat? I'm starving. Pidge and I ave been consuming energy bars and cheesy crackers for the past hour and it's not very satisfying."

"Don't diss my cheesy crackers hunk." Pidge threatens.

"Exactly! Your cheesy crackers! You barely let me have any!" He complained. The two of them began to argue and I laughed, settling into the backseat of the car with a smile on my face.


	15. Caught Pink, Purple, and Blue Handed

_Playlist: What I Know -- Parachute_

**_Before_ **

"Hey I'm Lance. What's your name?" The guy stared at me long and hard, confused. Shit. Not gay. Definitely not gay. Fuck why does this keep happening to me?

"Ryan." He replied in a deadpan voice.

"Oh cool um the class that's in that room right now do you know when it gets out?" Ryan glances to the class room to his left and shrugs a little.

"I don't know."

"Oh, sorry. I just figured you were waiting for someone and my friend is in there too so.. Yeah." It was time to back away slowly and then run like hell before I became red as a tomato. What the heck was wrong with me? I could usually tell if someone was part of the LGBT community. Why was I so off my game? Thank god I started with a neutral introduction. If I had straight up came onto him he could have tried to punch me in the face. "Well I'm just gonna.." I turned around, ready to run like hell despite telling him I was waiting for a friend. But I nearly ran into Matt. Matt as in, Pidge's brother.

"Matt!" I exclaimed startled by his presence. He nodded to me, fixing his glasses as he finished whatever text he was writing on his phone. "H-hey how.. How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Matt replied finally looking up at me and his friend. "Ready to go Ryan?" The guy nodded and I shifted my weight nervously. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ryan was going to say something. He was going to tell Matt that I tried hitting on him, if Ryan could even tell, and then my life was going to fall apart and I was going to have to switch schools or move to another state.

"Yeah I'm ready. So ya around Lance." I nodded vigorously.

"See ya, Ryan, Matt." I waved nervously as the pair walked off.

"So that homework we had..." I heard Matt say before they turned around a corner. I breathed a sigh of relief before quickly hightailing it the fuck out of that hallway. Why was I such an embarrassment to myself? Why was I picking all the wrong people to flirt with lately? What had happened to my mojo?

* * *

I didn't think I was going to see Matt again that day but I did. He was in my room with Hunk when I came home from class. The two of them were talking and I paused when I saw him in the room. "Hey Lance." Hunk said with a smile. Matt smiled too, waving.

"Um, hey guys." I murmured.

"I was dropping off my sisters remote. I borrowed it yesterday to play some games with my friends and she really wants it back obviously and she's coming here late to play anyways so.." Matt shrugged as I nodded slowly and headed for my bed, sitting down on it lightly. "Anyways, good seeing you guys. Let's all hang out again soon when I'm not swamped with homework.

"Wait, Matt." I blurted out as he began to head for the door.

"Yeah?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

"About earlier..." what the fuck was wrong with me?

"Earlier?" Matt questioned.

"Ryan?" I sigh as Matt just stares at me. "That's not how I wanted you to find out and I'm sorry if you're weirded out by me now." I watched him scratch his head confused. Hunk was giving me a worried expression.

"I'm sorry... What are we talking about?" Matt questioned. I sighed.

"Ryan told you I was flirting with him didn't he?" Matt's eyebrows shot up and he looked completely stunned.

"What? You were?" I jumped up, now in a state of panic.

"You mean he didn't tell you!" I shouted.

"What? No! He said you two just talked!" Matt shouted back

"Fuck! I just came out to you in the worst way possible!" I cried out, wanting to tear my hair out and scream. My face was burning red and I could tell Hunk was trying not to laugh, which I appreciated.

"So uh.. You're bisexual?" Matt asked in a calmer voice.

"Uhh... Yeah, sorry."

"You're sorry?" Matt demanded. "Don't be sorry. That's cool Lance. I don't give a shit. Like whoever the fuck you want but uhhh.. Ryan is straight and has girlfriend." I nodded, shaking my head at myself.

"Yeah, I know. I gathered that by talking to him. I don't know what's wrong with me. I keep accidentally hitting on straight people. It's embarrassing." I huff.

"Trial and error Lance. You'll get the hang of it." He walks over and touches my shoulder lightly. "I'm glad you told me. I'm assuming Hunk and Pidge know?" I rub the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Actually, only you and Hunk." His jaw went slack.

"You haven't even told my sister? Damn, I get to hold this over her, 'Lance likes me best, he came out to me first'." He started to fake mock his sister and I groaned, hitting the heel of my hand to my forehead. Pidge was going to hate me for telling her brother first instead of her.

"I mean.. I thought you already knew or had an inkling but if Ryan didn't know I was flirting with him... Fuck." I groaned. Matt laughed.

"It's fine. She's not actually going to be mad. You should tell her though. You three are like best friends." I nod my head slowly. "Anyways, like I said, I'm swamped with homework. See you guys later." This time Matt makes it to the door and leaves. When he closes the door, Hunk bursts out laughing.

"I'm sorry but that was hilarious. You played yourself McClain." I threw my pillow at him.

"Shut up Hunk."

* * *

Later that night, as Hunk ad I got ready to play video games with Pidge, he said now was probably a good time to tell her about my sexuality. "She is one of your best friends Lance. Besides, if you tell her the same day as Matt, she'll be less pissed." I shake my head. "You know she's going to love you no matter what right?"

"It's Just scary. I've only told you, legitimately. My brother accidentally found out this Christmas break." Hunk nodded solemnly. I had told him all about it when he and Pidge came to visit me. "And Matt was an accident too. It's... it's hard."

"I understand. But I think you'll feel better once you're more open about it." I knew his words held a ring of truth and so I sighed and nodded, resigning to tell her the moment she stepped into the room.

"What's up motherfuckers!" Pidge cried out, bursting into our room thirty minutes later. She tossed her backpack onto the floor and closed the door. "Let's play so fuckin video games!" She grabbed her controller off my desk and was prepared to plop down on her beanbag chair, the one she had Hunk carry over here since she mostly played games with us now instead of in her room alone. It's a pretty cool thing to have, especially since she doesn't care if we use it. It is in our room after all.

"Wait, Pidge. I have something to tell you." She looked over at me.

"Okay But make it fast. I'm excited to best level fifty." I nodded, excited as well but feeling nervous all the same.

"Sit down." Hunk urged to me, which I was grateful for. The three of us sat down and I breathed in deeply.

"Okay, okay I'm just going to say it. Matt and Hunk already know so.." I take a deep breathe as Pidge narrows her eyes slightly, confused. "I'm bisexual." Her eyes soften and she breaks out into a smile.

"Oh, yeah I knew that."

"What!" I exclaimed, jumping up and making the two of them laugh. "What do you mean you knew?" I demanded.

"Dude," Pidge says hitting my arm. "You stare at Shiro's ass on the regular and that bromance you have with Jeremy..." my face turns bright red and I look away from her.

"Jeremy and I are friends." I argue.

"No, you and I are friends. You kind of have a crush on Jeremy." Pidge said with a slight smirk on her face.

"She's right bro." Hunk affirms.

"Shut up!" I shout. Pidge gets up and hugs me which kind of startles me. We've only hugged a couple of times.

"I'm glad you told me Lance but I also can't believe you told my brother first." She says with a hint of annoyance. I hug her back, smoothing out her hair.

"I didn't. I was flirting with, or trying to flirt with one of his medical school friends and I thought Ryan was going to tell him something but he didn't because he didn't even know I _was_ flirting with him and I basically just came out to Matt on accident." Pidge rolls her eyes as we let go of one another.

"Well, Whatever. Your bisexual, that's super cool. Now let's play some fucking video games!" She shouts in my face. Hunk cheers and I laugh as the three of us settle down into our respective chairs.

* * *

"I'm bisexual." Somehow, it was getting easier to say.

"Oh dude, same." Aurora said with a wide smile.

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, I was waiting to tell you because sometimes people don't believe me, especially since I have a boyfriend right now but yeah. I felt the gay vibe off of you when we first met." I laugh a little.

"Well, awesome!" I say happily.

"I only like dudes." Tristen says. "But I wish I didn't. They're lame."

"I second that sister." I said reaching out for a high five. She high fives me with a sigh and the three of us laugh. "I can tell you guys about the date I went on then." I say, running one hand through my hair.

"What date?" Tristen asked skeptically.

"The one from almost two months back. I wasn't out with a girl, it was a guy, an older one."

"Oh." Tristen and Aurora said at the same time.

"Is that why you were so heartbroken?" Aurora asks gently. I shrug, trying to play it off.

"I guess.. I mean, it was the first date I've been on with a guy and it.. it didn't go as I expected." I murmured.

"Well, it's his fucking loss." Tristen said earnestly. "You're _Hot_ Lance. Somebody's gonna want to get in your pants sometime soon." I blushed a little as Aurora laughed. "What? It's true!" She argued, hitting her roommate.

"You're so weird Tristen. But she's right Lance. Screw him, we'll help you find a better boyfriend."

"Or girlfriend!" Tristen says happily. I was really glad I had such amazing friends.

* * *

The only people left to tell were Shiro and Allura. Mainly just Shiro though since, I kind of, sort of, exposed myself to Allura. So technically, Matt was the third person I told, Pidge was fourth and Tristen and Aurora were tied with fifth. And well, I guess Jeremy was sixth since I told Aurora it was okay for her to tell him. He came up to me the next day and hugged me.

"Congrats on finding yourself!" He had said, which made me laugh.

Today, all of us are meeting up for dinner, nothing fancy just some pizza and breadsticks in Matt and Shiro's dorm room. I made Hunk check to see if all our friends were gathered in the room and that all food and beverages were closed because I was about to do something stupid.

When Hunk gave me the okay, I burst into the room and threw handfuls of glitter. I unzipped my jacket dramatically to reveal my white shirt where, **Bi Bitch** was written in sharpie. I pulled out the bisexual flag from my back pocket and closed the door to their room, all while wearing sunglasses. "I'm gay." I said, after confirming that Shiro and Allura were positively shocked.

"I... Uh, that's great Lance." Shiro said with an ever growing smile as Hunk, Pidge, and Matt began to laugh.

"But could you please not throw glitter in our room again. That.. glitter is going to be everywhere now."

"I'm just glad the pizza was covered otherwise I'd be very pissed Lance." Allura scolded. "But thank you for telling us in such a fabulous way. The glitter was a nice touch." I laughed.

"I wanted to make it dramatic. Pidge, Hunk, and Matt already knew and I kind of started to wish I had told them in a fancier way. This was the best I could come up with in such a short time."

"Well it was nice. Now can we eat, watch movies?" Shiro asked, activating dad mode as he began to serve everyone pizza. I zipped my jacket back up and smiled as Hunk put his arm around my shoulders.

"I'm proud of you Lance." He said as we watched our friends begin to laugh and eat.

"Thanks Hunk. I'm glad you all are my friends."

"We're glad we're friends too Lance." Allura encouraged, smiling at me. Everyone nodded vigorously, Pidge stuffing her face with pizza gave me a thumbs up.

"Now eat." Shiro commanded.

"Aye, aye captain."


	16. Potential Breakup Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slight Trigger Warning* Lance, Aurora, Jeremy etc. Mention suicide/suicidal thoughts 

_Playlist: Stay With Me -- Sam Smith_

**_Before_ **

I was broken. Something was wrong with me. Not only was I messing up my own love life but I seemed to be messing up the love life's of everyone around me.

Jeremy shouldn't have told me, not that he said much anyways, and he also told me to not bring it up with Aurora so maybe it was both of our faults. Jeremy, Hunk and I had been playing video games in our room. Pidge wasn't with us for once, she was off studying with Sarah and being studious and shit while the rest of us were procrastinating. Hunk had gone downstairs to the Commons to get us some snacks and had yet to come back so Jeremy and I were chilling, talking.

"Hey, I've wanted to ask for a while but how did you and Aurora meet? She's very dodgy about it and keeps saying you met at a beach or at the mall." Jeremy laughs.

"Yeah She never gives a straight answer because she hates how we actually met." I slowly smiled.

"Please tell me."

"Alright But don't go rubbing it in her face, she'll hate you." Jeremy cleared his throat dramatically. "Okay, So we were in theatre together. I joined just to have it on my transcripts for college , even though I already had baseball and the track team on it." I nodded my head. "So, I'm a tech dude, backstage kind of work. She's a minor character in the musical we're doing. I'd never really talked to her much, she was a junior when I was a senior."

"That's right, I always forget you're a sophomore." I interrupt. Jeremy nods.

"My good looks keep my age ambiguous." I snorted and shook my head at him as he continued. "Anyways, her friends back home are _wild_ , all of them are in theatre together and so they're always messing around, onstage and off. The night of one of the shows, they were throwing around this snickers bar for some reason and Aurora miscalculated and accidentally threw it past her friend, Desiree and it hit me in the eye. That's how we met, she gave me a black eye." I busted up laughing.

"What! That's hilarious! I _knew_ it was something crazy like that. That's super cute though too. I can't believe you got a black eye." Jeremy shrugged.

"It was one of those big snickers bars." I laughed, shaking my head.

"How is she by the way? She seems really down lately." Jermey shrugged.

"It's the weather. She gets a little depressed around this time of year because she almost..." Jeremy stops.

"Almost what?" I asked. Jeremy shakes his head.

"No, forget it."

"What? Come on, I want to know."

"I can't tell you okay lance, let it go." Jeremy snapped at me. I stared at him, confused. What could be so bad that he couldn't tell me.. I thought back to what he said.

"Has she tried to hurt herself?" Jeremy said nothing, just stared at the TV. "Jeremy." I commanded.

"Drop it Lance, please. I shouldn't have said anything. Don't bring it up with her okay?" His refusal to comment only confirmed my suspicions though.

* * *

"I literally want to die." Aurora groaned as she laid on the floor of mine and Hunk's room. I laughed, staring at her. I told her it was a bad idea to lay on the floor but she did it anyways. We were currently studying for a math test together. We didn't have the same class but we did have the same teacher and she gives both of her classes the same tests. It made it easier for the two of us to study but since both of us hated math, it was also the worst thing in the history of the world.

"Same." Aurora smirks.

"What's with our generation and wanting to die so much. I didn't think I'd spend my young adult years talking about death so much. I thought these years were supposed to be fun." I laugh a little.

"The fun starts when you can buy and drink alcohol legally." Aurora sighs.

"Two more years for us then." I nod, smiling but I don't want to let the death comment go. I've felt a little, antsy I guess, ever since Jeremy revealed Aurora's suicidal tendencies in high school. I want to bring it up in the nicest way possible. I want to tell her that I'm here or her if she needs it.

"Hey, I uhh.. If you do ever need to talk to someone. You know I'm here right?" Aurora snorts.

"Duh Lance." She gives me a funny look.

"I just wanted to be clear. Because I ... I know you've contemplated suicide before and I just want you to know I'm here for you." Aurora stared at me blankly, like she was trying to process what I just said.

"What?" She demanded. Taken back by her harsh tone, I repeated myself.

"I'm here for you." She stands up slowly, almost menacingly.

"Who told you I've thought about killing myself." She's glaring at me and I panic slightly. Ive never seen her angry.

"Nobody. I'm sorry did I say something wrong?" Aurora stared at me, not believing what I had just said.

"It was Jeremy wasn't it."

"Jeremy didn't say anything to me. I'm just worried about you." Aurora begins to gather her things.

"He shouldn't have told you anything." She mutters, shoving her book into her backpack, and grabbing up her notes.

"Wait, Aurora!"

"He shouldn't have told you!" She snaps at me, wrenching open the door to my room.

"Oh hey... Aurora." I hear Hunk say. She scoffs and must have pushed past him to walk out the door. Hunk comes in, looking confused and worried. "What happened?"

"I... I don't know."

Everything only went downhill from there.

"Lance!" I heard Jeremy shout from across the quad. Shit. Shit shit shit shit. I should have run. I could have run. I probably would have made it back to my dorm before he caught up, but instead, I stood frozen, waiting for him to confront me.

"I'm sorry." I began as he approached me, clearly pissed off.

"She broke up with me Lance!" He snapped, shoving me. "What the fuck?" Aurora broke up with him? I felt like hyperventilating. "You shouldn't have said anything!"

"Then why did you tell me?" I shouted back at him. Jeremy's expression broke and the tension in his shoulders dropped.

"I didn't tell you anything! Fuck!" The two of us were quiet. "Why did you have to bring it up? I know you're just trying to be a good friend but..." He kicked at the rocks on the ground angrily. "She won't speak to me. She won't speak or anyone! Tristen can't calm her down."

"What's wrong? Why is she so upset?"

"Lance, listen to me. She's only ever told _me_ that she tried committing suicide. She hasn't told her family or her therapist... Tristen doesn't even know why she's upset! She just knows it's my fault. That's _all_ Aurora's said."

"Yours and mine apparently. Tristen won't talk to me either." Jermey breaths in deeply.

"I've tried to get Aurora to talk to people, to open up but she's been trying to convince herself for _years_ that she doesn't have anxiety or depression. She's convinced she just has to get fucking over it instead of dealing with..." He stopped. He was beginning to shout and I guess he didn't want other people to listen in to our conversation. "I... I don't know Lance. All I know is that I love her and she's not speaking to me anymore." He said this with an air of finality before slowly walking away from me.

What the hell had I done? What the hell had I done?

* * *

"Tristen you have to let me see her."

"I don't have to do a damn thing Lance. Shes been inconsolable for four days. Just be glad that it's the weekend and that she's not missing school." Tristen said, glaring at me as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well what about when school starts? Then what? She can't miss class let me just apologize to her. Let Jeremy talk to her. We're really sorry." Tristen sighs and rush her hand down her face in exasperation.

"Look, Lance. I don't even know what's wrong. She won't tell me. I bring her food, give her blankets. She just sleeps and cries and watches TV. What did you and her dumb boyfriend do?" She demands.

"I can't tell you. It's.. it's something personal about Aurora. She's mad at me because I found out and thinks Jermey told me." Even though he inadvertently told me, he didn't mean to say anything. Tristen sighs.

"Okay, I'll let you in but if she says get out, you leave. Okay?" I nod my head vigorously as Tristen finally opens the door to their room and lets me in. Aurora is sitting on her bed, wrapped in a bundle of blankets and she glares at me when I walk in, like she knew that Tristen would let me in.

"What are you doing here?" She demands. At least she didn't tell me to leave.

"I want to apologize. I shouldn't have said anything and Jeremy didn't tell me anything. I swear. I figured it out on my own." Aurora says nothing, just stares at me. "I didn't mean to upset you Aurora and you can hate me for the rest of your life but I just wanted you to know I'm sorry and Jeremy is sorry too."

"She knows that. Jeremy comes by everyday and waits outside our dorm for at least five hours, talking to Aurora through the door." Tristen whispers to me.

"So don't lie Lance. Jeremy said he accidentally let something slip and when he tried to tell you to forget about it, you just couldn't keep your damn nose out of it." My shoulders slumped and I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say Aurora."

"You can get out is what you can do. Don't come back."

"Aurora." I said with a pained expression on my face.

"Stop Lance. We agreed. She's done the same thing for Jeremy and he left without a fight so.." Tristen points to the door and I slowly walk towards it.

"You _h_ _ave_ to talk to someone Aurora. I know you don't want to hear it but you know that Jeremy and I are right so.."

"Get out!" Aurora shouts over me. Tristen pushes me out the door and shuts it. I hear the lock click as I begin to walk away.

* * *

"I feel really bad for him." Hunk said with a sour look on his face. "Jeremy is tearing himself apart worrying about Aurora." I nodded my head slowly, fully aware of Jeremy's state of mind. The two of us have a general ed class together, health, so we see each other twice a week. Yesterday, he spent the whole class period writing out another apology text to Aurora. He'd shown me all the other unanswered texts he had sent. All of them were different. All of them were heartfelt. And all of them made me unbearably sad.

"She still hasn't talked to him."

"I don't even think she's gone to school Lance." Hunk said softly. I couldn't be sure about that. I hadn't seen Tristen in a while either because of this whole situation. Surprisingly Pidge was the one with the most information about the whole situation. She was one of the only people Tristen and Aurora allowed in their room without throwing them out five minutes later, I guess it's a girl thing... but there was no word on whether or not Aurora was going to forgive Jermey and I anytime soon.

"We were just trying to help Hunk. I don't know why she's upset."

"She has her reasons Lance and right now, in her mind, they're valid. Just give her some more time. I'm sure she'll figure out what to say to you two eventually." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"You should be a therapist Hunk, not a cook."

"Cooking is my form of therapy. I make people happy with food." I smiled. He wasn't wrong after all.

On Thursday, the day Jeremy and I had class together, he never showed up. I had texted him worriedly, as I fidgeted with the cube that Pidge had given me but he hadn't replied by the end of class. So as soon as we were dismissed I tried calling him. He answered on the fourth ring. "Hey Lance, this is a bad time."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You are okay right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm talking to Aurora so I really have to go." Aurora. She was talking to him.

"Tell her I'm sorry again for me, please."

"She knows Lance. She's going to call you later tonight okay?" I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. That sounds good. See you soon buddy." The two of us hung up and I began to anxiously wonder what the two of them were talking about and what Aurora was possibly going to say to me. Would she never want to speak to me again? Would she blame me for everything that happened?


	17. The Past is the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slight Trigger Warning* Lance and Aurora talk about suicide and self harm

_Playlist: Million Reasons- Lady Gaga_

**_Before_ **

When my cellphone rang, I picked it up immediately. "Aurora?" There was a laugh.

"Dude, did you check your Caller ID?" Matt asked. I sighed and flopped onto my back on my bed again. "Is she talking to you again? Last I heard from Pidge, she was still pissed."

"Jeremy said she would call me today and she hasn't done it yet."

"I'm sure she'll get around to it." I waited for him to keep talking, wondering what he called me for but when he didn't say anything, I reminded Matt that he called me. "Oh shit right. Shiro told me to call y'all to make sure if we were still on for this Friday?"

"Pizza night? Duh dude, I look forward to the third Friday of every month." The six of us had started having monthly pizza nights in Shiro and Matt's room. It was a way to get us all together to hang out and relax and just not think about school.

"Alright, see you and Hunk there then. Now I gotta call my gremlin of a sister." I laughed before saying goodbye and hanging up. I sighed before placing my phone on my stomach and staring at the ceiling of the room. I had talked to Jeremy over four hours ago. Had they been talking for that long? Did Aurora decide not to call me after all? Should I try calling her? No... She hasn't answered before now. I should just.. There was a knock at the door. Sighing, I stood up. If it was Hunk, he wouldn't have knocked. Pidge would have shouted at me through the wood so it was probably somebody that was lost or on the wrong floor and needed directions or something.

"I would have excepted more joy on your face upon opening the door." Comes a slightly sarcastic voice. I stare at Aurora and Jeremy in surprise.

"Aurora!" I shout. She's smiling, looking a little happier as she squeezes Jeremy's hand tightly. "And Jeremy. Hey, I-I can't.. Wow! I thought you would call." I exclaim, beginning to smile.

"I told her it was better you two talk in person." Jeremy leans in and kisses his girlfriends cheek and she gives him a worried glance as he begins to let go of her hand. "You." He says, poking me in the chest. "Be a gentleman, don't ask too many questions. Just let her tell you whatever the hell she wants and you, beautiful." Jeremy says to Aurora, kissing her forehead this time. "He's one of your best friends, don't freak out okay."

"Jeremy..." She murmurs, blushing a little.

"Everything's going to be fine. You can come over to my room after if you want okay?" Aurora smiles a little.

"Okay, I really miss Aaron." Jeremy scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"I'm sure he'll be super happy to see you too." Jeremy touches her cheek lightly before shooting me another glare and walking down the hallway, towards the stairs. Aurora and I stare at each other for a couple of seconds.

"Aurora I.." I begin at the same time she says,

"Lance I.." the two of us laugh a little.

"Whose Aaron?" I ask, trying to get rid of some of the awkwardness.

"His roommate. They met when they were freshman, they were roommates back then too. He's really nice. Kind of reminds me of my younger brothers except.. Well, you know he's older." She says with a shrug. I nod my head. I think I'd heard Jeremy talk about his roommate before.

"Do you want to come inside?" I asked her. Aurora shook her head.

"Let's go for a walk. I'm still jittery from talking to Jeremy." She said lightly. 

"Okay." I say, grabbing my phone and my keys before locking and closing the bedroom door. The two of us walk quietly downstairs and through the lobby until we hit the pavement outside. "Jittery?" I question, trying to get the conversation going as we walk down the steps to the quad. "He's your boyfriend why were you scared."

"We've never really.. Fought before and I thought he was going to hate me for shutting him out like that." Aurora shakes her head at herself. "I should have known better though. Jeremy is like.. The best person I've ever met." I smiled. "And I'm not really good at talking about my feelings either. That's not how I grew up in my house. I don't really hear my parents say they love us and I've never really talked to them about anything personal. It's kind of like my parents don't even know who I am. They just know what makes me happy not what makes me.. Me." 

"Okay.." I say, nodding my head. I kind of understand what she's saying, even if my family isn't like that. She sighs.

"Anyways, were supposed to be talking about our stupid friendship not any of that."

"I think that's part of it though isn't it?" I question. Aurora shrugs.

"I guess.." Aurora takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry I freaked out though Lance. Jeremy said he told you about.. I mean I tried to once..." I put my hand on her shoulder as we continue to walk around.

"You don't have to say it out loud."

"But I do." Aurora says in exasperation. "I tried to kill myself two years ago Lance but I failed to overdose. And at the time all I could think was, I couldn't even fucking do that right. I couldn't even kill myself. I was such a _failure_." She takes a shaky breath. "I told my parents I needed to see a therapist. They wanted to know why but I wouldn't tell them so I'm amazed they even started to pay for one. Maybe they could tell I was fucked up."

"They were probably just worried Aurora." She shrugs.

"They don't really ask about it though. My therapist says they're not supposed to pressure me about talking or anything. If I want to tell them something then I should tell them but it's almost... Embarrassing to talk about it now you know? If I tell them that I tried to kill myself while they were in the house then.. They would feel like bad parents." I pursed my lips, not knowing what to say. "And I haven't even told my therapist about how I almost killed myself so if can't even tell her, why should I tell my parents?" I nodded slightly.

"How'd Jeremy find out?" Aurora shakes her head at herself again.

"It was stupid. I got a little too tipsy at a party, fessed up to a couple of things to him on the car ride home. I didn't feel that much better after telling him all of that. I just felt like... A burden. He was the only one who knew and I didn't want him to feel any pressure from it. He said he never has but I don't know.."

"You should believe him on that. He's a pretty laid back kind of guy."

"I know but.." she huffs. "It was just.. I don't... I didn't want him to know and when he did know I felt like that that's all he could think about when we were together even if that wasn't true at all. And I was always, _always_ worried that he was one day just going to tell somebody. My sister, my parents, my other high school friends. It would just come out and he wouldn't be able to divert the topic."

"So what happened with me was your worst nightmare."

"My _literal_ worst nightmare. I know it's not your fault Lance and I know it's not even Jeremy's. I trusted him too much to not say anything, to not let anything slip. But I also never tried to admit to what had happened. Admitting would make it feel more real and if it was real then my mental health was jacked up. Even though I knew it was!" She laughs sarcastically at herself. "I'm just stupid and anxious and paranoid. I shouldn't have gotten as mad and upset as I did."

"You had every right to be upset."

"Maybe." Aurora murmurs. We're looping around the science building, heading back to the dorms. Aurora looks tired, unbelievably tired.

"I'll walk you back to your dorm." I tell her. "You should take a nap or something." She runs a hand through her hair and shrugs.

"I'll just take a nap at Jeremy's if anything. I feel really bad about cutting him off like that." She pauses. "And you of course." Aurora adds almost as an afterthought. I laugh.

"I'm sorry too Aurora. I shouldn't have pried. I should have just let you tell me about it if you wanted to. I was just worried." She punches my arm lightly.

"Thanks for worrying Lance and apology accepted." As we headed back to the boys dorm, we talked lightly about school and homework. Aurora complained that she was a bit behind because of her "giant freak out" she called, it the last weekend. "I shouldn't have skipped classes. That was a dumb ass move. I usually wait to skip until the end of the semester when I can't stand my teachers anymore." I laugh.

"Just skip anyways, you're not going to get I that much trouble." She laughs as we stop on Jeremy's floor.

"I'll see you soon Lance okay." Aurora says as we stand in front of each other a bit awkwardly.

"Can we hug? This standing here, staring at each other thing is weird." She laughs and the two of us hug, still feeling slightly awkward. "Bye Aurora." I say as she moves down the hall. She waves back at me, smiling before I continue to head upstairs to my own dorm.


	18. God of the Sea

_Playlist: Harbor Lights -- A Silent Film_

**_Before_ **

My heart was stuck in my throat. My eyes burned with the notion of tears and my ears were ringing like I had water in them. What the fuck was happening? What the fuck was happening? "We don't want you changing with us." The words echoed inside my head. That could only mean one thing. That could only mean one thing. That could only mean one fucking thing. My swim mates were looking at me like I was fucking psycho. Like I didn't belong. Like I shouldn't even be there in the first place.

"But where will.." I didn't even want to finish the sentence. I couldn't even get it out. Where was Danny? Captain Danny wouldn't allow this right? He was a nice guy he wouldn't just kick me out of the locker room because I was bisexual right? I didn't even look at these guys that way. They weren't even my type and we were teammates first before anything else. I just.. I couldn't fathom it.

"We don't care. Just not here With us Lance."

"But I.. I'm part of the team." Tony scoffed and some of the other boys laughed.

"Not for long. You're not as good a swimmer as you think you are Lance and if we have any say about it, we'll make sure you're not allowed to swim with us anymore." The only reason I was at Acadia was because of this stupid swim scholarship. If I lost that.. then I wouldn't be able to come back here.

"Guys please don't.."

"Oh is he gonna cry." Someone started to taunt. "Little baby Lance gonna cry?" Everybody started to laugh. My blood was boiling, the ringing was louder. I needed to get out of that fucking room. I turned to run. It was the only thing I knew to do but instead, I ran smack dab into somebody's chest. I looked up slowly at Danny. He was frowning and his bright green eyes were narrowed. I thought he was and at me for a second, because he was looking at me but he turned his gaze outward.

"What's wrong Lance?" He asks in his deep, almost booming voice.

"N-nothing Danny." I stammered out, rubbing at my cheeks. A tear had slipped out. I couldn't let him see I was crying so I look at the ground. He places his hand on my shoulder and steps forward, preparing to address the team.

"Does someone have a problem with Lance?" He demands. Everyone is deathly silent, nobody daring to speak up. "Nobody? Really?" He asks. "Because, I'm pretty sure I heard you correctly Tony, Randy. You want to kick Lance off the team? You want to kick him out of the locker room? Why?"

"D-Danny it's fine. I- I'm just new. They were making fun of me that's all." I said, trying to step in and avert this whole situation. He might only make it worse. I know bullies and when bullies are confronted by someone with higher authority, they only lash out harder.

"No Lance it's really not." He insists, glancing back at me over his shoulder. "I am not going to tolerate homophobic comments or jeers or talk of any kind."

"We were just meeting with him Dan. We weren't really going to.."

"You can Shut you dam mouth right now Tony. I don't like you. I've never liked you and if you think that I can't get coach to kick you off the team then you're sorely mistaken."

"Danny." I whispered, not wanting him to take it too far. The rest of the team was standing around anxiously, nobody wanting to look at either of us.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves. For letting these two idiots talk to Lance like that and for not stepping in to help him." Danny finally turns to me. "Come on Lance. From now on, you can change in coach's office if these pricks are so scared of you."

"I'm not afraid of him or you." Tony interjects as Danny begins to lead me away.

"Oh really? Because you should be afraid of me." He replies menacingly. "And you shouldn't be scared of Lance looking at your dick, you barely have one." I look back just to see the look on Tony's face. It's one of pure rage mixed with humiliation as some of our other teammates snickered.

"Danny, you really didn't have to do that." I whispered. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. Tony's just an asshole." I wasn't going a good job of convincing him that everything was alright though. I was still on the verge of tears, despite how Danny had stepped in to help me, it still hurt being talked to like that. Everything was much simpler when I wasn't out. Why couldn't things just be normal? Why was I fucking up my own life?

"Lance, it is a big deal. I know you didn't tell any of us about your sexuality and you shouldn't have to. It shouldn't be a problem for people but sometimes it is." He takes a deep breath. "My sister struggled with her identity for years. She nearly..." He stops and shakes his head. "My point is Lance, she got better and I learned not to tolerate shit like that. He outed you to the whole team."

"I was already out." I tried to argue. "I just hadn't gotten around to.. I mean I was going to eventually..." truth is, I didn't think I was going to tell my teammates. It shouldn't have mattered. I never told anyone in high school and never had any problems. Why should this team be any different?

"You don't have to explain anything to me Lance. Just tell me if they get on you like that again." Danny says as we stop in front of the coach's office.

"I don't need you to protect me Danny." I said softly, not wanting to look at him.

"No, you don't but you need to tell me so I can get Tony or Randy or anyone, suspended from the team. They need to know that their actions have consequences." I kind of wanted to cry again, mainly from happiness though. I knew Danny was a nice guy but... I didn't know he cared this much.

"Thanks Captain." He smiled at me broadly, showing off his perfectly white teeth.

"I know Im graduating this year Lance but, if you show off those same amazing swimming skills the coaches saw at your meets in high school, then I guarantee you'll become the youngest Swim Captain at Acadia University." I smiled up at him, overjoyed to hear him praise my skills.

"Thanks, again. Coach won't mind that I change in here right?" I asked. Danny shook his head and opened the door. I guess coach keeps it unlocked. He flipped the switch on revealing a clean, well kept area with a trophy display case, a desk and some other minor furnishings. I'd only be in this room once before, on the tour Danny first gave us of the area.

"Not at all. I'll just tell him that you plan on changing in here for the rest of our meets and he'll be cool with it."

"He won't ask why?" I questioned.

"He's not a nosy guy Lance. You'll be fine. Now get changed, you need to warm up a little before the race starts." I nodded my head determinedly before stepping into the room. Danny shut the door behind me and I turned the lock slowly, jiggling the handle to make sure that it was really locked. I breathed a sigh of relief at finally being alone. I could have started to cry but.. Danny was right. I had a swim meet to prepare for.

* * *

"Lance! My boy! That's the fastest I've ever seen you swim!" Coach Robby exclaimed. "You've been holding out on me bud. You even beat Danny's record!" I glanced over at our team Captain and he was smiling wide, giving me the thumbs up. I flinched thought when I saw the looks on the other guys faces.

"You did wonders out there kid. Keep swimming like that and you'll win the whole competition." Coach Kenneth confirmed, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Hell, you could even be captain next year." Captain? That's just like Danny said. Was that how he became captain? By being faster than everyone else?

"Thanks coach." I said with a smile. I really wanted to take a shower and change but.. the showers were in the locker rooms and I wasn't going to go back in there again after everything that happened. As I was pondering want to do, several people shouted my name at once.

"Lance!" Racing towards me was Hunk, Jeremy, Aurora, Tristen, Pidge, Sarah, Matt, Shiro, Allura.. Everyone. All of my friends. I had forgotten that I invited them. I had forgotten they were here. I had been com consumed with what happened just a couple hours ago that I hadn't even thought about them.

"You were amazing!" Pidge cried out, throwing herself into my arms. "I knew you were good but I didn't know you were that good!" She cries out, pulling away and smiling so wide I wonder if her cheeks hurt.

"Oh uh thanks. Thank you all for coming, it really means a lot." I said, trying to smile and be happy over the fact that they were all here.

"I don't really know how swim meets work so is that a good time?" Matt asked jokingly, pointing up at the board that was still flashing my winning time.

"Yeah, I mean 400 meters in 4 minutes and 40 seconds, that's almost as good as Michael Phelps and I beat the Captains time by about fifty seconds."

"That's amazing Lance!" Allura cries out. "We're all really proud of you."

"Yeah, Yeah we're all proud of him but can we please stop talking to him like he's not just standing there in a speedo?" Aurora says, smirking at me a little. Over the past week or two, my relationship with Aurora and Jeremy has been a bit strained. Aurora doesn't blame me for what happened and she did say she was sorry but thighs weren't like they used to. I guess we couldn't immediately go back to normally. She still joked around with me and teased me but I could tell she was restraining herself a little. This comment though and that smile on her face, it all felt like her, her genuine self and I smiled.

"What? You don't like it? I think it really accentuates everything." Tristen and Sarah made pretend gagging noises before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"I mean, I never knew you had abs, good for you buddy." Jeremy said, clipping my shoulder.

"Dude, I have muscle to spare." I said flexing my arms and making some of them laugh.

"Whoa hey look, he actually does have biceps. Wow." Sarah said enthusiastically, poking my arm.

"Okay we get it, you're physically fit Lance but Aurora is right, please go change." Pidge interjects.

"And shower, you smell like chlorine." Hunk said, wrinkling his nose. I shrugged.

"Naw, I'm just gonna shower when we get back to our dorm roomie. I hate the showers here, they're completely nasty." Hunk arched an eyebrow at me but said nothing. He knew what I had just said was a lie. The showers in the locker room actually weren't that bad. They always had warm water and were pretty powerful. I had told Hunk once that I liked the showers here better than the one attached to our room. He didn't comment on my lie though and so I headed back to the coach's office to change and grab my stuff.

On the way though, I ran into Tony. I swallowed hard, knowing he was looking for a confrontation. I tried not to show him how terrified I was. Was he going to hurt me? Physically or verbally? Or both. Tony stepped in front of me when I tried to move past him "Don't think that just because you have one good meet that you're suddenly going to be Captain you piece of shit."

"Get out fo my way." I said in a hard voice.

"Make me faggot." He hissed. "Danny's not here to fucking save you and when he graduates, you'll have no one on this team on your side." With that, he shoved me into the brick wall and I cringed, as my shoulder hit the wall hard. My heart was hammering in my chest and I quickly ran down the hallway to the coach's office. I couldn't let Tony bother me. I couldn't let him get to me. But how was I going to get through the rest of the year knowing that Tony was out for my blood?


	19. Fiasco

_Playlist: Turning Tables -- Adele_

**_Before_ **

I was jamming out to a song on my phone, my headphones blasting the tune into my ears. Pidge always says I'll go deaf listening to music like this but it helps me concentrate in a way. Plus, I just like blocking out the world, especially on my walks back to the dorms from my classes. It takes me about five minutes to traverse the entire area back to the dorms and sometimes I'm so tired from classes that I just need a chance to zone out and feel the music.

As I was walking home today though, I ran into a familiar person. Actually, they kind of came up to me. As I said, my music can be too loud and I don't hear it if someone calls my name so when someone's hand came down on my shoulder, I flinched and looked up. It was someone I least expected to come and talk to me. Jason was standing in front of me. I pulled my earbuds out, and paused the music on my phone.

"What do you want?" I asked. Jason pursed his lips.

"How are you Lance?"

"Fine until you showed up." He sighs, not saying anything more. I scoff and begin to move past him. I don't want him to waste my time but when he speaks again, what he says stops me in my tracks.

"I just wanted to apologize." Were my ears deceiving me? Was Jason Zara actually apologizing to me? I stared at him, trying to have as blank an expression as possible. He couldn't possibly be apologizing for never talking to me again after our date. He didn't seem like that kind of guy but.. I was still kind of hopeful. What else would he have to apologize for?

"What for?" I asked in a deadpan voice. Jason sighed.

"For what happened at your last swim meet." Hold. Up. Hold up. My last swim meet? What was he talking about? I didn't even see him. I thought he was apologizing for never texting or calling me back. I frowned.

"What?"

"Tony told me about what happened in the locker room. He was actually, kind of bragging about it and so I wanted to apologize seeing as it's my fault." There were so many confusing things in that sentence he just spoke. The first one being, he knows and is apparently friends with one of the guys that's trying to get me kicked off the swim team and the second one being, he somehow thought that those guys picking on me had something to do with him. How narcissistic can a guy get?

"How is it your fault?" I demanded.

"I was the one who told them you were bisexual." It kind of felt like I had stopped breathing. I had jut barely become comfortable with coming out to people and hearing my teammates so viciously attack me last week had really deprecated my self-esteem and motivation. I had never felt more humiliated in all my life. Actually, it was kind of similar to how I felt when Connor and Austin rejected me at the mall.

"You What?" I shouted at him. "Why did you do that! Do you know the kind of shit they said to me? I just barely came out to my friends and you went and blasted my biggest secret to my teammates. They're trying to get me kicked off the team! They don't want some "bisexual predator" in their locker room!" I felt like hitting him but he was six foot and had a lot more body mass than I did. Even if I tried shoving him, he probably wouldn't move.

"I didn't think it was a big deal and I didn't know you weren't out yet. We never talked about that. You seemed pretty comfortable with yourself."

"Yeah well you don't know me at all Jason so you shouldn't have fucking assumed something. I bet you told them to give me hell too. I wouldn't put it past you."

"You're being ridiculous Lance." Jason said with a frown, shaking his head at me as he crossed his arms.

"And you're not denying it." I argued. Jason huffed.

"I wouldn't do that. I only told them about you because they were curious. How was I supposed to know they'd go off the rails on you. They're perfectly fine with me being bisexual."

"You're not in the fucking locker room with them when they're changing you asshole." I snapped at him. Jason rolled his eyes and I swore, I saw red. I geared up and punched him in the face. Jason flattered a little, stepping back as he rubbed at his jaw. "I don't ever want to see you or hear your voice ever again you major fucking prick."

"Fuck off Lance." Showing him both of my middle fingers, I began to back away from him before turning around completely, still holding them up to face him. I wish I had never fucking met Jason. My life was way better before he came around and fucked me up.

* * *

"Hey Lance what's up?" Hunk asked. "Why the SOS text?" I ran into his arms the second he walked through the door. I told myself I wouldn't cry but right now, I felt like breaking that promise. "What's wrong?" He asked softly, patting my back before I pulled away from him and began to pace the room.

"I-it was Jason." I stammered out. "I saw him today."

"What'd that asshole do?" Hunk asks. I threw my hands in the air.

"He wanted to apologize, but not for what I thought he might apologize for." I took a deep breath. "Apparently he's friends with that asshole Tony. Jason was the one who told him I was bisexual and then Tony told the whole team."

"What? That's so messed up!" Hunk exclaims.

"He thought I wouldn't care because I never told him that I hadn't come out completely."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Some people might be comfortable with their friends or whoever telling other people but that's not true for everyone. He should have asked you." I shake my head.

"No he's right, it's my fault. I never mentioned it. I didn't want to seem... Weird to him."

"Lance, we talking about this. You can't blame yourself for everything." I sigh and sit down on my bed.

"I wish I had never gone out with Jason. Everything's all screwed up because of him." Hunk frowned and came to sit next to me.

"What do you mean everything's all screwed up?"

"Ever since I met Jason, my life has just gone.. Downhill.. I nearly broke up Aurora and Jeremy, Connor and Austin and my teammates refuse to accept me and I keep striking out with everyone I try to talk to."

"You can't pin this all down to the moment you met Jason, Lance. Everything didn't start because he never called you back." I stood up and shook my head.

"But it did Hunk. It did." He sighed. "I never want to flirt with another guy ever again."

"Lance, you can't deny that part of yourself."

"I'm not denying it. I'm just not going to give in to it. The only guys I'm going to talk to now are you, Shiro, Jeremy and Matt. It was stupid of me to flirt with guys."

"Lance.."

"Hunk it's fine. Maybe I won't even flirt at all! Maybe I'll just focus on school and my friends and myself. I don't need a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever." He pursed his lips and I could tell he still isn't like my idea but he couldn't exactly change my mind about it either.

* * *

"Hey man, hows it going?" Jeremy asked before sitting down next to me in class. We were both taking the same Statistics class. It was completely by accident. I just walked in the first day to see him there and sat next to him.

"Man am I glad to see you. Are you any good at math? I stink at it?" Jeremy had laughed when I said this and shook his head.

"Dude, math is my worst subject." So while the two of us were pretty horrible at math, so far we had been able to understand the concepts the teacher was telling us about. But he also kept warning that it was only going to get harder from this point on, so I wasn't sure we would be able to keep this streak up for long.

"Okay I guess. How's Aurora?" He smirked a little, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Man, you really have to talk to her more." I shrugged.

"It's still awkward between us."

It's awkward, because you two make it awkward. She asks about you just as much as you ask about her. So why don't you two just kiss and make up." Jeremy pauses, making a face at himself. "Wait, no don't kiss my girlfriend man." I laughed.

"I'm not going to kiss Aurora." I inhale deeply. "I know we should just start talking again but I just want to give her some space.

"Like I keep saying, Aurora doesn't want you to give her space, she wants her friend back." I smiled weakly. "How's Hunk by the way? I see him a little less this semester. Is he still bummed about getting an F on his last dish?" I sat up straighter, confused.

"He didn't tell me he failed an assignment."

"Really?" Jeremy asked, arching an eyebrow. "He hasn't stopped talking to me about it." Mr. Hamill walked into the room and everyone turned his attention to him but my mind was racing as I thought about Hunk. I had been so consumed in my own problems this past week or so that I hadn't thought about what Hunk might be dealing with. As soon as I got home, I was going to talk to him about it.

* * *

Hunk was sitting on his bed, reading a book and eating some pretzels. I felt almost awkward disturbing his quiet time but I wanted to know why he hadn't talked to me about his failed assignment. "Hey Lance." He greeted, not looking up from the book.

"Um... Hey.." I paused, setting my stuff down. "Uh.. Jeremy told me you Uh, failed an assignment in one of your classes." Hunk looked up and nodded, closing the book.

"Yeah, Uh I did."

"How come you didn't tell me?" I questioned.

"You were dealing with your own stuff." Hunk replied with a shrug. "I didn't want you to worry about me and my one cooking disaster."

"Ah Hunk But I want you to tell me. I always talk to you about my problems. I don't want you to not tell me yours." Hunk smiled lightly.

"Thanks Lance. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It really was a dumb mistake on my part." He replied with a shrug.

"The failed grade?" I ask. Hunk nodded, breaking out into a smile.

"We were making pie and instead of putting in sugar, I accidentally grabbed the salt." I start laughing, unable to help myself. "Yeah, at first I was really upset that my teacher failed me but.. It's a pretty funny situation."

"Did it taste awful?"

"Oh yeah, it was the saltiest pie I've ever had." I laughed again.

"Hunk! You should have told me about it. I'm sorry you failed and all but, that's a hilarious story. I've always wondered if cooks do that."

"It happens on occasion." Hunk agreed with a shrug.

"Always tell me about your cooking disasters Hunk. I want to make you feel better about them like you always do for me with my problems." I told him with a wide smile.

"Sure thing buddy.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! How'd you like that part? Jason/Lotor's a major prick right??? I kind of based their storyline after a friend of mines relationship with this guy. Also, the next story part is a huge time jump! By about two months. Nothing much happened in between that time, and I didn't want to prolong my introduction of Keith any longer. So I hope y'all are as excited as I am!
> 
> If you're curious though, Lance and Aurora do get over their awkwardness and are now better friends than ever. Lance is in the running to be the next swim Captain after Danny graduates. Jason is still a dick and Lance is sticking to his promise of not flirting with people as much as he used to. If y'all were missing Pidge, Shiro, Allura, and Matt in these last couple of chapters, I'm sorry!!! I wanted to focus on Lance's arc.


	20. Working Hard Vs. Hardly Working

_Playlist: Iris -- The Goo Goo Dolls_

**_Before_ **

"Tío, tenemos otro auto que viene." I called out as I finished wiping my hands on the already stained blue cloth. I had spotted the slowly moving car out of the corner of my eye and while I'm perfectly capable of talking to customers. Sometimes adults don't like talking to "bratty teenagers".

"Ve a hablar con ellos, por favor, Lance!" He calls back. I look into the front room and see that he's on the phone so I give him the thumbs up and stuff the grimey rag in my pocket as I hear the people begin to get out of the car.

"Lance!" Comes a rather excited and familiar voice. I look up fully to find Hunk, Matt and Pidge coming towards me. Pidge grins madly, before rushing up to hug me. She pauses though when she sees what I'm wearing. "You're filthy." She comments. I laugh.

"Yeah, I know." I grab her up in a hug and she starts shouting at me that I'm gross and to let her down and that I messing up her shirt. I set Pidge down lightly and she hits my arm as Hunk and Matt laugh. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked with a wide smile.

"To see you of course." Matt says. I roll my eyes.

"Okay yeah, but why? You could have mentioned something before Hunk. I would have gotten the day off."

"Yeah see, the thing is. I forgot you work unlike some of us and we wanted to surprise you with a visit since you live farther away from us." Hunk shrugged.

"Yeah and he only reminded us that you had work when we were halfway here and suddenly, showing up unannounced was a stupid idea." Pidge says with a shake of her head.

"But we came anyways!" Matt shouts, throwing his arm around his sister. "We stopped by your house and met your family which took about twenty minutes because your Mom refused to let us go. She told us how to get here and..." Hunk tossed me my backpack. "We're going to the beach."

"Guys, I'm working." I said a bit dejectedly.

"Not anymore son." My uncle says, appearing by my side. "It's a slow day. You work hard. Go hang out with your friends."

"Momma called didn't she?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yes and she threatened my life if I didn't let you go with your friends. Which I would have done anyways but.." He shrugs. "Have a good time."

"Woohoo!" I shouted unzipping my backpack to see what was inside. My favorite pair of swim trunks, a towel, sunblock, sandals, my sunglasses, a change of clothes, and water and snacks. My mom thinks of everything.

"Hurry up and go change! The others are waiting for us." Hunk says.

"The others?" I ask.

"Allura, Shiro Jeremy, etc. What? Did you think it was just us?" Pidge asks with a coy smile. I'm nearly on the verge of tears. I can't believe my friends would all come this far for me.

"I love you guys." I cry out, trying to hug all three of them at once but they complain about my oil stained clothes and I have to let them go.

"Now hurry up Lance. We're burning daylight!" Matt exclaims. "Don't make me leave your ass behind!" He shouts, getting into the drivers seat as I head back inside the shop to change.

* * *

The sun is shining, the ocean is waving and I'm ready to fucking swim. When I get to the beach, I find that our friends mostly have everything all set up. Shiro brought an Eazy-Up that Aurora and Jeremy were sitting under when I arrived. Tristen and Sarah were walking along the shoreline, picking up shells and preparing to make a sand castle together, while Allura and Shiro dragged a large cooler out of the trunk of Shiro's car.

"Hey! Good to see you Lance." Shiro said, waving us over. I'd never seen him with a tank top on and I have to say, he was looking pretty hot, literally and figuratively since the sun was pretty brutal right now. I moved their way to help the two of them while Matt, Hunk and Pidge unloaded his car. The cooler in his trunk was a little smaller.

"Damn, what's in here?" I asked as the three of us lifted it off the ground together.

"About five pounds of ice, maybe another three pounds of drinks and a bunch of other stuff for the barbecue." Allura relays. "Damn, I wish this thing had wheels." Shiro and I laugh as we continue out to the sand.

"Are you cooking?" I asked Shiro. "Or is Hunk?"

"Neither actually. Did you not notice the guy over there? Flaming red hair?" I look to where Shiro is nodding which is kind of hard seeing as I have to turn my head almost eighty degrees to the right. There is a guy there. He's wearing bright teal swim shirts and an almost obnoxious looking Hawaii print shirt. He has sunglasses over his eyes and is prepping a grill I saw him messing with before. I didn't think he as with our group because he was standing a little farther away from everyone else but I guess that's probably so the smoke from the grill doesn't aggravate anyone under the Eazy-Up.

"Oh, yeah who is that?" I asked. Allura smiles weakly.

"My uncle. He insisted on coming. He loves the beach and he wanted to meet my friends."

"Hasn't he met Shiro and Matt before?" I asked as we set the cooler down finally. I waved to Jeremy and Aurora who were busy putting on sunblock and the waved back. Allura laughs.

"Yes of corse he has but he hasn't met anyone else. Come on Lance. You're the only left who has to say hello." Allura says wiping the sand off her hands as he moves towards her uncle.

"He's crazy cool Lance." Aurora speaks up.

"Yeah he's interesting." Jeremy said with a bit of a laugh. Allura shakes her head, smiling at me as she puts her arm around my shoulders.

"He's a bit.. Eccentric but he's really a nice guy. I've known him since I was a baby and he's taken care of me for the past eight years when I needed him most." I smile happily. Allura doesn't talk about her dads death a lot. I know it hurts her and I also know how grateful she is to her Uncle so I'm excited to meet him.

"Coran! I've brought Lance with me." The man stops trying to light the grill and turns to look at us. He has freckles all over his arms and across the bridge of his nose and he takes off his sunglasses to get a better look at me.

"The names Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe! But you can just call me Coran." He says, sticking out his hand so I can shake it.

"I'm Lance." I reply. "It's really nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too my boy. My little princess here has told me all about her friends! I'm so pleased to be here with all of you and get jiggy with it." He shakes my hand vigorously and I try not to laugh at the fact that he said "jiggy with it". "This is a beautiful stretch of beach by the way. Have you always lived here?"

"Yeah, I came to the ocean a lot with my family as a kid. It's sort of the reason I became a swimmer. I just love the water." He nods.

"Well you better get out and enjoy it then. I have a grill to master here unless you'd like to help Lance."

"I'm not really good with anything that deals with food. I'll leave that all to you Coran."

"Right you are!" He exclaims before putting his sunglasses back up. Allura and I walk away and I smile.

"He's really cool Allura but you know what's even cooler?" She laughs, probably knowing what I'm going to say. "The ocean!" I strip off my shirt and drop it down on my backpack that Hunk probably brought out for me before racing towards all my friends wading in the shallows. With a joyous shout, I run into the water and dive once I get deep enough.

* * *

Everyone is sitting under the Eazy-Up, covered in saltwater and sand. We're all chowing down on hotdogs, hamburgers and vegetable shish-kebabs. Allura insisted we eat some form of a vegetable with this meal and this is what they decided on. For the past hour and a half, Allura, Coran and Shiro have been whipping up lunch for us. Pidge, Sarah and Tristen stuck to the edge of the wet sand, trying to build the perfect sand castle. Aurora and Jeremy, the boring people they are, read books under the Eazy-up, watching Matt, Hunk and I swim in the ocean.

"Thanks for making all this." Pidge speaks up, talking to Allura, Shiro an Coran.

"Think nothing of it! I haven't had to cook for this many people since I was in the army. It's a pleasure."

"Well, we could have helped." Hunk argued. "You guys have to enjoy the beach too."

"Don't worry. We will. If the waves get any bigger, Shiro and I will get to surf hopefully." I glance towards them In surprise.

"You two surf?" I ask. Shiro laughs.

"Whose boards do you think those are?" He's right. There's two surf boards sitting in the sand just behind Pidge and Sarah but for some reason, I didn't think anything of it. Surfboards are natural to see at a beach.

"Shiro's not half bad." Allura says, nudging him. He chuckles.

"Allura is the surfing pro. She taught me."

"You're damn right I did." We all laugh.

"And are you two going to stay under her all afternoon?" Tristen demands of her two best friends. "Reading is cool when you're at home. We're at the beach." Aurora and Jeremy laugh.

"I don't want to burn but that's inevitable. We'll go frolic in the sun when we finish eating." Aurora tells her, nudging Tristen. The two of them smile.

"Oh hey, did we tell you yet Lance?" Sarah speaks up, happily munching on her vegetables.

"Tell me what?" She grins and looks toward the others.

"We're staying out here for three more days." My jaw drops.

"What? Really? I ask excitedly.

"Yeah we worked it out with your mom who worked it out with your uncle. You'll have the next three days off to show us around your hometown and of course, we'll be going to the beach a lot."

"No way!" I shout. "Where are you all staying? A hotel? You should have asked me to stay at my house. We don't have that many rooms but.." Hunk puts his hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay lance. We've been planning this. We all saved up enough money for three hotel rooms." He explains.

"Three?" I question.

"One room for Aurora, Tristen, Sarah and myself. Another room for Matt, Shiro, Jeremy and Hunk. And well, Coran paid for his room with Allura." Pidge explains. I glanced at Allura who blushed a little red. I guess she would have liked to be the same room as the girls or maybe even with Shiro.

"I didn't want to hang around you youngsters at night. I need my beauty sleep. Allura can come and go as she pleases but, she knows her fathers rules."

"Yes, Coran thank you." Allura says, touching his shoulder lightly, smiling.

"Why'd you guys all plan for this?" It's the middle of summer and while I've spent most of the summer so far, texting and calling a lot of the nearly everyday, I didn't know why they would want to go through all the trouble of coming out here to hang out with me.

"We're friends Lance. You live the farthest away and our group hang outs were never the same without you there." Shiro said sincerely.

"We missed you, you idiot." Aurora says.

"You're the best friends I've ever had." I said in a slightly shaky voice.

"Awwww. Group hug!" Sarah shouts. We all set our plates down and stand before becoming one of the biggest group hugs I have ever been in.


	21. The Infamous

_Playlist: Give Me Love -- Ed Sheeran_

**_After_ **

"I'm so excited Hunk! I didn't think I was going to be this excited but I am." Hunk smiled a little as he watched me get ready for dinner tonight. "Why are we going to such a fancy restaurant? Nothing special is really happening. I mean, this is the first time we'll all be together in a really long time but it's not _that_ special."

"I feel like I'm forgetting something." Hunk murmured, staring at the ground.

"It'll come to you big guy." I encouraged. Hunk scratched his head as I continued to ramble on. "So how is everyone? Allura, Matt, Shiro?" They're the ones I hadn't seen in a while. Pidge and Hunk actually came down to see me at work one day just a week ago. I nearly cried when I laid eyes on them.

"Everyone's good. They're excited to finally graduate this year." I paused as I tugged at the hem of my shirt. I had completely forgotten that they were older than us.

"Oh, yeah. Right." My good mood lessened a little when I remembered that our three oldest friends would be leaving school and joining the work force soon. "Well, at least we all get to spend one more awesome year together. And since Matt, Allura and Shiro have that apartment, we can hang out more outside of school." Hunk smiled.

"Yeah it'll be really cool. Ready to go? Matt is texting me that we have to get our asses downstairs." I grabbed my black jacket off the chair and pulled it on.

"Hell yeah I'm ready and looking hot enough to steal Shiro right out of Allura's hands." Hunk started laughing as I fixed the collar of my button up. "Let's go!" Hunk and I headed downstairs, talking the entire time. We met Matt and Pidge out on the steps that lead to the dorms and they both smiled upon seeing us. Pidge was wearing a dress with sleeves that went to her elbows and sneakers. I laughed a little before hugging her. "Look at you, looking all cute in a dress." She punched my arm lightly.

"I told you I own them. I just don't wear them to school."

"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised. I half expected you to be wearing your green hoodie." Pidge stuck her tongue out at Hunk as we all began to walk to the car. Matt's hair had grown out, it was a little past his ears now and he looked pretty good in the white button up he was wearing.

"So, you guys excited to meet Shiro's brother?" Matt asked as he pulled out his car keys.

"We're what?" I questioned. Matt rolled his eyes and looked towards Hunk.

"You told him right?" Hunk scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.

"I knew I forgot something." Pidge laughed as Matt sighed.

"Keith is going to be at dinner with us. He's going to Acadia now and since he's Shiro's brother, you're going to be seeing a lot of him." I hadn't heard much about Keith, just that he was supposed to be really smart and at some military college.

"Oh cool. That's not a big deal." I said with a shrug. "So long as his brother isn't a dick." They laughed as we got into Matt's car.

"Keith is a lot like Shiro. Not easily amused.." Pidge began.

"Half Asian." Matt butted in. Pidge hit her brother from the passenger seat as he started up the car.

"But Keith is also, according to Shiro, a bit hot headed so try not to.. Tease him. We're all used to your jokes Lance but Keith isn't." I snorted.

"He should be able to tell when I'm joking or not." I argued. Pidge gave me a _look_ and I sighed.

"Okay, I promise to not try to offend the little snowflake." Pidge rolled her eyes and turned back around in the front seat, ready to change the music station.

"Hey." Hunk whispered to me. "If this Keith dude is just like Shiro, maybe he's as hot as him." I blushed red as Hunk said this to me.

"Shut up man." I hissed.

"What'd you say?" Pidge asked with a smirk.

"I said.." I elbowed Hunk and he laughed.

"I don't know if Shiro's brother is hot, guys aren't my type you know." Matt began causing me to groan and Pidge to giggle. "But they do look pretty similar in the face."

"Okay, first of all, nobody is as hot as Shiro. Well, maybe Allura is but I doubt his brother looks half as good as him and anyways, its Shiro's brother. Secondly, I'm not going to try anything." And thirdly, I couldn't let myself fall for another guy if he was never going to speak to me again. Id kept good on that promise to myself so far And I wasn't going to let _anyone_ stray me away from it.

"Just wait until you see him. You might change your mind."

"Pidge, shut up." She laughed again.

* * *

I hated that Pidge was right. Keith was _fucking_ gorgeous. He had the same perfect jawline as his brother, the same dark hair and even though Shiro was broad and muscular, there was something about how lanky Keith was that made my stomach feel like it was jumping off a really high cliff. And damn, those fucking eyes.

Oh if only they told me he had a mullet though.

As Shiro introduced everyone to Keith, who stood there next to his brother broodingly in a black leather jacket and disinterested demeanor, I couldn't look away from his hair. Why has he grown it out like that? Did he think it looked cool? Well, it did look cool on him but I wasn't about to admit it out loud or anything. I'd sworn off guys, stupid brain. I'd gone through so much trouble and pain for them freshman year I was not about to get hooked on someone when I first meet them. I should try to make him hate me. I knew the perfect thing to say.

"And this is Lance." Shiro said finally, gesturing in my direction. I smiled and stuck out my hand as Hunk had done.

"Hey Keith. I'm Lance and I think the 80's are calling, they want their hairstyle back." He stopped shaking my hand immediately and scowled.

"What?"

"You have a mullet. I don't think I've ever seen one I real life." I walked around him slowly, smiling, just admiring the view as he once again, crossed his arms and seemed to pout.

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"Weren't you in a military college? I thought they buzz your hair."

"They do. Mine grows fast." Keith said, glaring at me slightly. I guess the college thing was a touchy subject. A hand came down on my shoulder.

"Lance please don't pick a fight with my brother." It's easier if if Keith is annoyed by me. I refuse to think he's cute.

"What? I'm just commenting on his hair!"

"Well don't." Keith snaps. Pidge and Allura sigh at me and I shrug as the hostess brings us to our table.

"So Keith, did Shiro show you around school?" Pidge asks him as we all sit down.

"Yeah, it's bigger than I pictured."

"You've never been here before?" I asked. Keith glanced my way and shrugged. Man, his eyes were hypnotizing.

"Only once, when Shiro first started coming here but I didn't remember much of the place." Shiro nudges his brother a little, smiling playfully.

"Not What you're used to right?" He asks before turning to the rest of us. "His military campus was boring. All concrete and stone. They didn't have any plants or anything nice to look at over there. It was boring."

"We didn't go to school to look at things Shiro." Keith argues lightly.

"I know it's the military and all buddy but.. I've never seen a more stricter campus." The conversation moves on and I poke Hunk in the arm, causing him to jump a little and look at me.

"What?" He whispers.

"You jinxed it." I hissed.

"Jinxed what?" He grins a little, knowing damn well what I'm talking about but playing dumb anyways.

"Are you living on campus?" Pidge asks, drawing Hunk and I back into the conversation. Keith sighs and nods.

"Shiro wouldn't let me live with them. He said I needed "the full college experience" but that's a load of crap, I had a roommate at my last college and I hated him."

"You need to make friends here Keith. You can't always go off by yourself." Allura scolds him lightly. Kieth pouts slightly.

"I thought that's why I was meeting them, so I _would_ have friends."

"Don't worry about him Shiro! We'll introduce him to all our other friends. We're all going to be best friends in no time." Keith frowned at my optimism.

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. They're a great bunch of kids Keith don't make that face."

"We're not kids." Pidge argues. "We're young adults."

"You look like a twelve year old Pidge."Allura remarks.

"Well that's not my fault!" She complains, making everyone laugh.

Keith is actually a pretty cool guy I guess. He is a lot like Shiro, stoic and doesn't like to talk about himself much but he at least seems comfortable around Matt and Allura. I find out he has a motorcycle which is pretty cool. I've always wanted one but my mom would kill me if I ever bought one. Staying true to my nature, I tease him and the rest of our friends well into the night. Keith gets progressively more annoyed with me and it makes me laugh a little. By the end of the night, I've decided that my new nickname for him is Mullet.

* * *

"Are you all ready for school tomorrow?" Allura asks as we exit the restaurant, heading to our separate cars.

"Yes, Mom." I joke, making her laugh. Keith rolls his eyes at me. "I'm excited to meet all the new cute freshman." I say, giving her a wink.

"Yeah, Yeah But are they ready to meet your flirtatious ass?" Matt asks, hitting my shoulder. "Come on, you're riding with me or I'm leaving your ass here." I follow Matt, Pidge and Hunk back to his car while Allura, Shiro and Keith go in the opposite direction,

"Keith didn't ride with them?" I ask, watching as he continued to walk even as Shiro and Allura reached his car.

"No, Keith took his motorcycle. He lives at the college, not with us."

"Yeah but.." I begin to say, watching Keith tug his helmet down over his face. He glances my way and all I can see is his gorgeous eyes before he flips the visor down and gets onto his bike. "Why didn't he ride with us?" I ask, finishing my sentence.

"He may know me but he's never met you guys. He was a little uncomfortable with the idea. Especially seeing as how the back seat os my car would have been pretty cramped."

"Pidge could have sat back here with us." Hunk says as we get into his car. "Keith could have had the passenger seat." Pidge turns to look at the two of us from her front seat.

"Nobody takes my seat." She hisses out. Hunk and I laugh.

"Yeah, no, Pidge is very protective of that seat. She always as to be there when I'm driving." Matt shrugs.

"Pidge you little gremlin." I say. She hisses again and I smile. Freshman year didn't end well but I'm not going to let that get me down. This year is going to better. I'm going to focus on school and my friends and I'm not going to let anything distract me.


	22. New Friends

_Playlist: Strangers -Halsey_

**_After_ **

I walked into my history class with a smile on my face and my fidget cube in my pocket and low and behold, who do I see but Keith Kogane. He's wearing that same leather jacket he had on last night but this time, instead of a deep red button up, he has on a ripped band shirt and black skinny jeans. It's such a casual look so why does my heart flip a little? _Calm down you stupid heart. You can't like Keith. He's Shiro's brother first of all and second of all, remember what you promised yourself you wouldn't do._

"Hey Mullet." Keith looks up at me as I speak and he sighs.

"You're in this class with me?"

"Apparently so! Is this your first class of the day?" Keith shakes his head and goes back to looking at his phone. "It's my first class." I tell him. "Don't tell me you have an eight AM or something."

"Seven AM actually." I stare at him in shock.

"What? Why? That's so gross." Keith shrugs.

"I used to wake up at six at my last college, sometimes earlier. It was a military campus so we had to be up at sunrise." I make a face, I hate waking up at the same time as the sun.

"Did you eat breakfast this morning? I didn't see you in the cafeteria."

"I didn't really want to eat there. I had a diet soda." I snort.

"What? That's not breakfast. Dude, next time come to the cafeteria with me." He makes a face at me and I roll my eyes. "You can meet our other friends. Jeremy, Aurora, Tristen. The five of us could be like the breakfast club." I say excitedly.

"The breakfast club?" Keith repeats like he has no idea what I'm talking about.

"Yeah! You'd be the rebellious, loner boy." He huffs. "Jeremy would be the nerdy, preppy boy. Tristen would be the princess, although that means you'd get the girl in the end." He blushes a little but I keep going. "I'm the jock and I guess that leaves Aurora as the goth girl. Which is kind of accurate, she had a Scene phase. I've seen the photos." Keith is just staring at me.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What? The Breakfast Club Dude! Have you never seen that movie before?" His nose wrinkles.

"Isn't it like... A girl movie?"

"Not necessarily." I argue. "It's about this group of teens who get placed in detention together and learn things about life, school, love. It's all very enlightening. It's a coming of age movie." He stares at me, still confused.

"So It has nothing to do with breakfast then?" I laugh.

"No Mullet. It has nothing to do with actual breakfast."

"Well that's dumb." He grumbles, turning away from me and becoming disinterested. I huff and turn towards the front as the teacher walks in.

"The Breakfast Club is not a girl movie." I grumble. "It's a coming of age story." Keith snickers a little and when I look at him he still has a light smile on his face. I almost smile back at him.

* * *

"So what did you think of Keith?" Pidge asks, nudging me as she continues to destroy Hunk and I in the game. I don't even know how she does it. Sometimes she's not even looking and she still beats us.

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to sound indifferent.

"She means do you think he's "completely gorgeous" a "force to be reckoned with" someone who could "steal your heart just by looking at you". These are all things he's said about people he finds attractive by the way." Hunk explains to Pidge. I blush red all the way to my ears.

"Shut up Hunk." The two of them laugh.

"Well come on Lance, what'd you think? I'm very curious." I shrugged.

"He's Nice I guess. A little pouty. I don't know if he's my type but he definitely doesn't like dudes so why does it matter?" Hunk pauses the game and when I look at him, Pidge and Hunk are just staring at me like I'm fucking stupid.

"What are you talking about?" Hunk questions. I arch an eyebrow at them. Did I miss something? What was going on. Pidge snaps her fingers and looks to Hunk excitedly.

"Oh right, I don't think he was there when Keith told us." Hunk breaks out into a smile before laughing, holding his sides.

"Told you what?" I asked. Pidge smirked, pushing back a lock of her brown hair.

"Keith is gay. He was telling us about his boyfriend at dinner yesterday." My jaw dropped. No way. There was no way that beautiful Mullet wearing boy was gay. Pidge and Hunk started to laugh at me. "Yeah, I don't think _he_ thinks it's s big deal. He started talking about him like it was nothing." I shook out my head, closed my mouth and shrugged, still trying to act nonchalant about the whole situation. Even though I had just complexity failed.

"So how do you like him now?" Hunk asked with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him in a childish way and he snickered.

"Nothing. It's whatever. Even if I did think he was cute, he has a boyfriend." Pidge laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh no, sorry. He was talking about his _ex_ -boyfriend. Keith was saying he was jerk. I forget the context of the conversation but Shiro had said something and it just reminded Keith of his ex." I continued to pretend not to care.

"Oh so what. He's gay, is single. He's still not my type."

"Oh really? Violet eyes, motorcycle, rebellious. That's not your type anymore?" I really wanted t preach around Pidge right now and punch Hunk in the arm. "You're obsessed with Danny Devito from grease. You told me you always wanted to date a boy like that. I think Keith embodies that a little bit."

"He's not my type." I reiterated.

"Uh-huh, not your type." Pidge said with a shake of her head.

"Aren't we supposed to be playing a game!" I demanded.

* * *

"So when are we going to meet this Mullet boy?" Aurora asked, dipping her eggs in ketchup as the four of us continued to eat breakfast together. "I thought you invited him to hang out with us."

"I did but he's stubborn and he also doesn't like me that much." Aurora snickers.

"Why not? You're no _that_ bad." Tristen jokes, nudging me a little. I shrugged, smiling at my friends.

"I think I annoy him. He doesn't like when I comment on his hair."

"So maybe stop doing that then." Jeremy says.

"Hey, you'd make fun of him too if you saw him." I countered. Jeremy laughed.

"Yeah but you're probably going to hang out with him more than we will. So maybe being a nuisance isn't something you want to do." His logic is sound and I know I should listen to him. Being friends with Keith wouldn't be that bad. I would just have to get over how cute he is. Except I wasn't exactly sure how to do that. Maybe I should find a bad habit of his and focus on that, then I probably won't end up liking him.

"True but... I think I'm going to stick to calling him Mullet." They shake their heads at me.

"Well what's his status anyways? Is he single?" Tristen asks.

"Yeah, I know that much." I reply with a shrug. I almost blurt out that he's gay but I don't want to be like Jason. I know Pidge and Hunk told me about his sexuality but I wasn't going to tell anyone else. Keith hasn't even met these guys yet and he hasn't even told me about his orientation directly so I keep my mouth shut.

"Nice, is he super cute? What does he look like?" Tristen asks with a bright smile. I laugh.

"He has dark hair, is kind of a loner and has really nice violet eyes." I list off for her. "I'll try to convince him to come hang out with us for breakfast. He has a class at seven but then he has at least an hour break between that one and the class we share together."

"Maybe he's just shy. Don't push him Lance." Aurora says.

"But with him here we would have the full breakfast club! And we'd actually be eating breakfast together." My friends laughed. "He has to come meet you guys. You're all kind of cool."

"Oh shut up." Tristen said, throwing a piece of bacon at me. "Were the coolest people you know." 

"You're right. What was I thinking." I said laughing a little. Keith would get along with these guys so I really hope he does accept my offer to hang out with us three out of five mornings.


	23. The Mechanic

_Playlist: I hate u I love u -gnash ft. Olivia O'Brien_

**_After_ **

With the first week of classes under our belts, Allura decides that to celebrate the new school year, we should have a pizza party. Which mainly consists of the seven of us sitting around, eating pizza and watching movies. We did the same sort of thing last year with just the six of us.

Hunk, Pidge and I get picked up by Matt after we finish all of our classes. Keith still has one at five so he's going to arrive a little later on his motorcycle. Which is fine with me. I think I really am beginning to annoy him. He gets mad every time I mention his hair and I've only known him a week. I must be pretty irritating. I wonder how my friends put up with me?

The six of us are lounging around in the living room. Hunk is sitting on the couch properly, like a normal person and I'm laying my head in his lap, my legs draped over the armrest and hanging down the side of the sofa. Allura had scolded me a little when I jumped on the couch with my shoes on and this was the compromise I came up with. Pidge is next to Hunk and they're both discussing the latest technological advance for something I don't understand. Shiro and Matt are arguing over what pizza toppings to get, which is something they always do before Allura steps in and decides. So all we're really missing, is Keith.

He blows into the apartment like an unwelcome storm. He's muttering under his breath, scowling and looking genuinely pissed off as he shuts the door to the apartment with his hip. Keith is the only one other than Shiro, Matt and Allura who has a key to this apartment. Apparently Shiro doesn't trust us enough.

"Y'all are just going to show up here whenever you want, eat all our food and leave. I'm not giving you three a key to this place." He had explained and we didn't argue with him because he was right.

"What's up?" Shiro asks.

"My motorcycle is making a funny sound. I _literally_ just went to the shop to get it checked out so I don't know what's wrong." He said, his eyebrows arched down in an angry V as he put his helmet down on the kitchen counter. "And if something is broken, I can't go in to get it fixed. I blew all my money on the last thing that broke with that damn bike."

"Maybe it's not a big deal." Matt offered. "It could be a simple fix."

"A simple fix would still be like a hundred and fifty dollars I don't have." I glanced toward Hunk who had been staring at me ever since Keith started to complain about his motorcycle troubles. I gave him a funny look and he gestured outwards.

"Oh, right." I said, having completely forgotten that I know a thing or two about cars and motorcycles and engines. "Keith, I can fix it." I offer to him, excitedly. He scoffs.

"Yeah, Right." He grumbles.

"It's true." Hunk says, beginning to back me up. "Lance works at his uncles auto shop during summer. He can probably fix it for you." Keith glances over at us like we're kidding around.

"Don't you remember me telling you about the four days we spent in Lance's hometown? He really does work in an auto shop. I think I have some tools you guys can use in my car. Lance can go take a look at it." Shiro says. Keith turns away and moves into the kitchen where Allura is, still ordering pizza after she settled the argument between her two roommates.

"I guess." He mumbles, lightly.

"Well out with it, what kind of noise is it?" I ask Keith who is nervously running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, like a grinding noise. Its like... It's better if you hear it." He complains. Allura pats his shoulder reassuringly as he grabs a water bottle out of the fridge.

"You can't trust a lot of auto shops. Let me go have a listen." I stand and try to grab his keys from the counter but he snatches them up before I can.

"I'll go with you. I don't want you messing up my bike."

"According to you, it's already messed up." Keith frowns and sets the water bottle down, untouched.

"Let's go." He grumbles.

"Get my keys so you can get the toolbox." Shiro tells us. Keith grabs them from the key rack as we head out the door. Together, Keith and I walk down the stairs and head to the visitors parking. I wait by Keith's bike while he heads to his brothers car. When he comes back, he's lugging a small black case that he sets down on the ground.

"Okay, let me hear the noise and then I'll look at the engine." Keith sighs but does what I say, turning the key into the ignition and firing up his bike. He's right, it's a rattling grinding sound. I motion for him to shut it off, which he does before bending down to look at the engine. I purse my lips a little. Nothing looks wrong at first but I have a slight hunch as to what the rattling noise is. I'm about to reach out to touch his engine when I notice it's slightly grimy. I make a face.

"Hey, hand me a wrench please." I ask. Keith opens the case and frowns, turning the tool case to me.

"I don't know which one you want." I pick one out and turn back to his engine. "So you know what's wrong?" Keith asked. "It's something you can fix?"

"Oh it's simple. I'm pretty sure a bolt is just loose." Keith frowns as I strip off my jacket.

"That's it?" He questions. I nod. I should have it fixed in no time. I glance down at the shirt I'm wearing and the slightly greasy engine I'm staring at. I don't want to get my shirt dirty. No matter how hard you try, you can _not_ get oil grease out of shirts. I should have brought paper towels with me or something. I should have know this would happen. Shrugging, I begin to take off my shirt. "Lance! What are you doing?" Keith demands As I drop my shirt on top of my jacket.

"Removing my shirt? I don't want to get it dirty." I said arching an eyebrow at him. His arms were crossed and he was glaring off towards the side staring at who knows what. "Besides that, I look good with my shirt off." Keith scoffs but doesn't argue with me. I smirk. "Now are you going to watch me fix it or not? It's pretty simple."

"Fine." Keith says with a huff before coming closer to me. I twirl the wrench in my hands before pointing at the problem.

"Right there. The bolt is loose. Sometimes auto shops loosen things up to mess with your head and get you to come back. If left like this long enough, something else might have come loose and you'd have a bigger problem and that's what they want."

"Dickheads." Keith grumbles. I laugh.

"Yeah, So you literally just..." I put the wrench to the bolt, gripping a different part of his bike to support my other hand and give it a couple of good turns. As I expected, my hands are stained with grease from that one simple motion. "Try it now." Keith sighs and moves to start the engine again as I try to decide what to do about my hands. When Keith turns the engine, the rattling is gone. He smiles.

"Wow uh, thanks Lance."

"No problem. Do you think Shiro has something I can wipe my hands on in the back of his car though?" I ask. Keith shrugs, shutting off the engine and getting off his bike.

"I'll check." He says. Placing the wrench back in the box, Keith shuts it and picks it back up. He comes back a moment later with a classic oil rag.

"Thanks. It won't help much but I should probably put my shirt back on." I said, begging to wipe my hands on it. Keith snorted.

"What? You're not going to try to show off your body to the rest of our friends?" Keith asked with a smirk.

"They know what I look like. I'm a swimmer. Those guys have seen me in just a speedo plenty of times so I think they have a pretty good idea of what I look like with my shirt off."

"You're a swimmer?" Keith questions.

"Yeah. What do you think I meant when I said I was going to be the jock of the breakfast club?" Keith shrugged as I pick my shirt back up and pull it on.

"I don't know. I just thought you were being obnoxious like you usually are." I snorted.

"You barely know me Keith. I'm not obnoxious _most_ of the time."

"Yeah, just 80% of the time." I laugh as Keith and I make our way back up to the apartment, my jacket over my arm, even though my hands are still pretty dirty.

"You really have to meet Aurora, Jeremy and Tristen. They already think you're cool and they haven't met you yet." Keith frowns.

"I'm not good around new people."

"You're fine around us." I counter.

"Because of my brother and Allura and I guess Matt." Keith shakes his head. "I didn't want to go to a new school. I hate trying to make friends." I elbowed him a little.

"Ah don't be a baby, Mullet. Making new friends is fun." Keith rolls his eyes.

"I'm not a baby." He grumbles. "And I told you to stop calling me Mullet."

"I'll call you Mullet if I want to, Mullet." Keith groans.

"Why do you insist on pissing me off?" He asks, opening the door to the apartment.

"I'm not trying to piss you off. You're just easily annoyed." I reply, reaching out and ruffling his hair. Luckily, none of the grease from my hands transfers to his hair... o think. He slaps my hand away, glaring at me.

"Well, did you fix it Lance?" Allura asks.

"Yeah I did. Mr. Pouty still hasn't said Thanks yet." I joked. Keith scoffed.

"I did say thanks! Downstairs."

"But I like hearing it, it's probably the nicest you'll ever be to me. Say it again for me." Keith shakes his head and storms off deeper into the apartment.

"Lance." Shiro scolds lightly, going after his brother. I shrug and turn to Matt in the kitchen, grabbing a soda.

"Is it cool if I wash my hands in here?" I ask, gesturing to the sink.

"I don't know, Allura?" She glances over at my hands form the living room couch and asks a face.

"Fine, I guess but make sure you don't leave any grease in that sink Lance." She wants. I laugh.

"You got it princess."


	24. The Heartbreaker

_Playlist: Amnesia -5 Seconds of Summer_

**_After_ **

Keith was talking to Jason. Jason was talking to Keith. Keith was blushing. Jason had that signature smirk on his face that fooled me into thinking he was interested. There was no fucking way I was going to let Keith fall for him too.

"Hey, Keith! I've been looking everywhere for you!" I shouted, running up and throwing my arm around him. Keith jumped slightly at the sound of my voice and whipped his head around to look at me in surprise.

"You were?" He asked with genuine surprise. Wow, he hadn't shaken my arm off him yet. That must be a record.

"Yeah of course." I smiled at him brightly and Keith looked away, his cheeks still red with embarrassment. What the fuck was Jason saying to him? I turned towards the tall, tanned wonder slowly, making sure to glare. "Jason." I said disdainfully.

"Hey Lance. How've you been?" He asked nonchalantly.

"You two know each other?" Keith asked a bit nervously.

"Barely." I said before Jason could say otherwise. "Come on Keith. I want to show you something." I took my arm off his shoulders and grabbed his hand.

"H-Hey. Lance!" He stammered out as I dragged him away.

"See ya around Keith, Lance!" Jason called after us. I scowled and continued to pull Keith away until I was certain we were out of Jason's sight.

"What the hell was that for?" Keith demands, pulling his hand away from me and crossing his arms anxiously as he tried to act more angry than embarrassed. "I was talking to him." He grumbled.

"You were flirting with him Keith and trust me that's not good idea." I said sternly, looking off into the distance where I could still see Jason walking away. "Jason is bad fuckin news. He's not a good guy."

"I wasn't flirting with him." Keith muttered. "He walked up and started talking to me. What's so bad about him?"

"My friend talked to him for months, went on a date with him and he never called her back." Why was I lying? Why didn't I tell him I was talking about myself? Was it because I was embarrassed? Why didn't I just tell him I was bisexual? Maybe I was nervous. I don't know. I could tell him later. Keith's eyebrows raised a little.

"He's bisexual?" I nodded at least that was a true statement.

"My friend may have been talking to him for months but he had a boyfriend the entire time. Jason just tried to make him jealous by talking to other people. I guess their relationship is doing poorly again." I muttered. Which again, this was all true. I found this our from Tristen who had done some digging on Jason after learning he was the prick that broke my heart. Staring off into the distance, I could no longer see Jason but I could still feel his presence. "He's not a nice guy Keith. I can't tell you what to do but if I were you... I wouldn't go for a dick like that." I almost winced but managed to keep a stern expression on my face. Keith takes a deep breath and sighs heavily.

"No, I believe you Lance. Thanks for getting me out of that." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "I know you weren't at the table that night I mentioned my Ex so I'm assuming one of the others mentioned it." I shrugged.

"Hunk and Pidge commented on it like two weeks ago."

"I wasn't trying to hide it from you or anything if that's what you're thinking. You're just... Not that serious. We've never really talked before without you teasing me or making some dumb joke." I grin at his grumpy expression.

"Yeah but that's just who I am, I can be serious. I swear!" I argued. "And I didn't think you were hiding it from me. I wasn't there dude and it doesn't really matter to me what your preferences are." _I like guys too_. I should have added but I didn't. Keith blushed a little.

"Yeah, well... I just wanted to make sure."

"We're all good buddy but hey, I'll see you later. I'm actually a little late for class now."

"What? You're missing class just to save me from some dude?" He demanded.

"Worried about me?" I joked, beginning to walk backwards away from him. Keith scoffed, shaking his head.

"No but that was a dumb move McClain."

"Well according to you I'm full of dumb moves! Catch ya later Mullet!" I called out, finally turning around to run to my class. I heard Keith laugh a little and I even glanced back to look at him. He was watching me run away, a giant grin on his face.

* * *

"So, I heard Keith telling Shiro that you stopped him from getting into some "deep shit" as he put it." I laughed as Allura came and sat down next to me on the couch. I was currently chilling with Keith, Allura, and Shiro at their apartment. Matt, Pidge and Hunk were still in class but would be heading over as soon as they were finished so right now, it was just the four of us.

"Yeah he was talking to Jason. I caught them in the courtyard, Keith was a blushing mess when I ran up." Allura laughs a little as I continue to scroll on my phone. I hope she's not going to press the matter because I heard what Keith said. _A friend of Lance's_ and Shiro and Allura both know that that is inaccurate.

"Lance.." She says softly, smiling at me so sincerely that I sigh.

"I'm not trying to hide from him, I swear. The lie just.. It came out and I couldn't take it back. I don't know, maybe I'm just nervous cause I don't know him well enough yet." She touches my arm lightly.

"It's okay Lance, I'm not criticizing your decision. I just want to make sure you're okay. I know that Jason seemed to really... Mess with your mind." I laughed a little. That was a bit of an understatement.

"I'm okay, I swear. You don't have to worry about me." Allura shrugs.

"I think I'm just going to worry anyways if that's alright." I laughed, nodding. "You and Keith really should get to know one another better you know. You two are more alike than either of you would probably admit."

"Maybe. But I think he's off-put by the fact that Im always making fun of him. I just want to make him laugh is all but I guess he doesn't see it that way." Allura smirked a little and I ran over what I said in my mind quickly. Fuck, that sounds a little like I have a crush on him or something. "What?" I asked. "Don't make that face. I like making all of y'all laugh."

"You're right. But I'm serious about you two getting to know one another. Don't you have a class together?"

"Yeah but Lance annoys the crap outta me." Keith says, entering the living room and flopping down onto the armchair. "Will you quit mothering me Allura. Making friends isn't that important in college, especially if it's one as annoying as him." Keith says with a slight smile, chucking a piece of popcorn at me from the bowl in his hands.

"I am not mothering you and sit up Keith, you'll ruin your posture." She says mockingly. Keith and I laugh as Allura stands and heads into the kitchen with Shiro.

"So, you two were talking about me?" Keith asks, actually sitting up as Allura walks past him.

"Only to comment on how you really need a haircut." Keith rolls his eyes, continuing to eat popcorn.

"Want some?" He holds the bowl out to me and I shrug before reaching over and taking a handful. "I've known Allura for three years. She's always thought I was too closed off for my own good but even more so after I broke things off with Brandon."

"What happened?" I asked. "Did he go to that military college with you?" This conversation feels... Personal and it's making me a little nervous.

"He did actually so I guess I should have seen it coming." He chewed his food thoughtfully. "He was too ashamed to come out. A lot of our other friends knew about me and didn't care but for some reason, it freaked him out to tell everyone. I think he was mainly afraid of his dads reaction though." Keith shrugged. "Anyways, long story short. We got into a fight that ended in me getting kicked out of the Garrison."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Shiro said you really liked it there."

"Yeah, I did but I don't really know what I want. I was just going to that military college because I didn't know what else I could do. I'm not particularly good at anything."

"Neither am I. You just gotta figure it out by taking a bunch of classes." Keith shakes his head.

"Well it's not just school. I meant like everything in general. At least you're a good swimmer.. Or so I've heard." He sad with a smirk.

"I'm an _amazing_ swimmer Keith. Wait until you see me in action in the spring. I'm the captain of the team." I said, smiling with pride. His eyes widened a little.

"You are? But you're a sophomore."

"I'm just that good buddy." I said, winking at him. Keith swallowed hard and looked down into his bowl. He cleared his throat a little and switched topics. Was it hot in here? Why were his cheeks pink. I should open a window.

"So uh.. both of them still really want me to meet your other friends." He paused. "So I should probably do that." I beamed at him.

"Really! They're really nice, I swear. Your going to _love_ Aurora and Tristen. Jeremy takes some getting used to but he's nice." Keith looked at me with a slight frown on his face.

"I can't tell if you're joking about him or not." I laughed.

"I am. Jeremy's cool we're just dicks to one another." He shrugged.

"Alright so I meet you guys at the cafeteria then?" Keith asked a little nervously.

"Yeah! You can stop by after your first class. You have like a forty minute break between that class and ours. Where have you been hiding during that time?" I questioned.

"The library."

"Nerd." I said with a laugh. Keith shook his head at me.

"Whatever Lance. They just better be as cool as you think they are."

"I'm gonna tell them you said that." Keith smiled a little before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. Talking to Keith was nice. I guess I should try to be a bit less of a dick to him. Or I should at least cut back on the teasing. I'm not gonna fall for him just by getting to know him... Right?


	25. The Breakfast Club

_Playlist: Waiting Game -Banks_

**_After_ **

Keith was so weird. Why was he texting me to go get him?

_Mullet_   
_Come get me Lance._

**That One Annoying Kid**   
**Haha what? Where are you?**

_Mullet_   
_I'm standing outside the cafeteria doors._   
_I don't want to walk in and look for you guys and look like a loser._

**That One Annoying Kid**   
**You're not gonna look like a loser dummy**   
**But fine....**   
**LANCEY-LANCE TO THE RESUE**

_Mullet_  
😒

"Hey man." I said, stepping outside to greet Keith who was shifting his weight from one leg to another as he messed around on his phone. Keith took his earbuds out. Today he was wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, a black bomber jacket I had never seen before, his favorite ripped up jeans and a gray beanie. He looked positively adorable. "What's so bad about just walking in and finding us?" I asked as Keith put away his headphones.

"Like I said. It's weird walking into a place without knowing where you're going. Besides, the dining hall is huge." I laughed a little.

"Alright well, we always sit in the same place. So memorize the way. Unless you always want me to pick you up outside." I sad, winking at him. Keith glared at me, muttering something under his breath about how annoying I was. I just laughed and showed him to the table where Aurora, Jeremy and Tristen anxiously awaited.

"Mullet, meet Jeremy, Aurora and Tristen." I said gesturing to each of them in turn. "Gals, meet Mullet Boy." Keith punched me in the arm surprisingly a little hard as Jeremy stuck out his hand.

"Keith actually. Don't listen to Lance." Jeremy laughs, shaking Keith's hand.

"We usually don't. No worries there and... Gals Lance?" Keith shakes Aurora and Tristen's hands as I shrug.

"The girls outnumbered you so I said gals."

"Enough about us." Aurora interrupts, setting her sights on Keith as he settles down into his chair. "So _you're_ the infamous Keith." She said with a wide smile. "Shiro's right you are a little cutie." Keith blushed hard as Aurora finished her sentence and Jeremy shook his head at her and nudged his girlfriend lightly.

"Don't mess with him dummy. You're just as bad as Lance."

"Oh you're one to talk." Aurora replied, hitting her boyfriends chest lightly. "You two have just been rubbing off on me. I need to stop hanging out with you two. Or get other friends or something." She continued with a roll of her eyes. 

"I'm your boyfriend, that's not gonna happen." Jeremy said lightly kissing her cheek.

"Well I'm single." Tristen states. "And I hate it." She glances over at Keith who shrugs a little.

"We're still young. The _right one_ will come around sometime." He says. Tristen seems a bit disappointed by his answer but I'm not. I take it as the perfect opportunity to make fun of him.

"Ah does Mullet have a crush on someone?" I asked, hitting his shoulder lightly. He glares at me. "Come on Keith, who do you have the hots for?"

"Nobody." Keith mutters. "I've only met you idiots." He uncrosses his arms and a look of realization hits him as he processes what he just said. "Not that, you guys are idiots." He argues, gesturing to Aurora, Jeremy and Tristen. "I meant Lance and them." Keith says, pointing at me.

"Naw, you're right. We're all idiots." Tristen says with a smile, making everyone laugh.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Keith. "You should go get in line if you want to eat."

"I'm not really hungry." He said with a shrug.

"Did you drink diet soda again?" I demanded. Keith didn't answer so I took that as a yes. "Eat." I commanded, pushing my half-eaten plate of food towards him.

"Lance I'm fine. I don't need to eat every morning."

"But you _don't_ eat every morning." I argued. "You drink a diet cola and then don't eat anything until lunch. Don't make me shove these eggs down your throat Mullet." Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes at me.

"I don't like eating breakfast. I told you this."

"What?" Aurora whispered. "Breakfast is great." I laughed a little, watching her chow down on chocolate chip pancakes. Keith smirked a little but I immediately went back to arguing with him. 

"See, this why you got kicked out of the Garrison. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives you energy, gets you ready for the day. I bet you were so slow in all of your classes that the school finally just had enough." He narrows his eyes at me.

"Why are you a dick?" He asked, making our three other friends laugh.

"Just eat Kogane and I'll shut the hell up." Still glaring at me, he slid my plate closer to him and picked up the fork.

"Fine, But only if you shut the hell up." He said with a scowl, before beginning to eat some of the scrambled eggs I had left on the plate. He coughed a little as the taste of the hot sauce hit him. "What the heck is wrong with you. This is so spicy." Keith asked grabbing my bottle of water and uncapping it before taking a drink.

"It's how I like it. I'm a spicy boy." Keith rolled his eyes as Tristen snickered in front of us.

"You two fight like a married couple. Are y'all sure you've only known each other a month?"

"A married couple?" Keith and I demand at the same time.

"Why would I marry him?" Keith asks, making Aurora and Jeremy bust up laughing.

"Hey, that's rude. I'm very marriage-able." Keith huffs.

"That's not even a word dumb ass and why are you offended. You don't even like guys? Are you mad you're not my type?" Ouch. I wasn't? I guess I can stop thinking he's so undeniably cute. If I'm not his type then I can just save myself the trouble if I ever decide I want to start dating again or whatever.

"Um first of all, I'm everyone's type. Right Jeremy, Aurora?" I demanded.

"I'd date you." They said at the same time, making me blush a little despite the fact that I had asked them if they would want to be with me.

"Second of all, I have a right to be offended that you think I'm not marriage quality. I really want to get married some day." I felt Tristen kick me under the table. She was probably wondering why I hadn't commented on Keith's _you don't like guys_ statement but I wasn't sure I was ready to tackle that thought just yet.

"Well, sounds like one of the only girl willing to marry you is already taken." Keith said with a large grin, glancing at Aurora.

"He's got you there Lance." Aurora said with a laugh. I touched my hand to my chest.

"You wound me friends."

* * *

Keith and I were walking to our shared classroom slowly. I wasn't use if he was still pissed at me about what I said earlier, about him getting kicked out of the Garrison because he's stupid because that's not actually what I think.. I was just trying to get him to eat something. He's so skinny. "Hey uh.. Keith." I said slowly. He looked up from his phone at me. "I Uhh.. About what I said about you getting kicked out of the Garrison because you're stupid. I... I didn't mean it. I was just trying to get you to eat." He sighed.

"It's fine Lance. It's not a big deal."

"It is. I don't want you to be mad at me." I argued.

"I'm not mad." Keith said in a voice that kid of made it sound like he was mad. I took a deep breath.

"I'm just trying to tell you I'm sorry is all. You told me all that stuff last week and I don't want you to think I was being insensitive or anything even though I kind of was.." I pursed my lips. "Shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes and I can't stop it."

"Maybe you should stop speaking out of your ass then." I started to laugh as I looked over at Keith. "Apology accepted dude. Just lay off on the jokes a little bit."

"No promises." I said, opening the door of the classroom for him. Keith smirked a little as he walked inside the room. I trailed after him, letting the door shut behind us.

* * *

"So you two are getting along now?" Pidge asked. "It's about time. Keith's nice. I don't know how you manage to rile him up so badly."

"It must be part of his charm." Hunk joked before I could reply. Pidge and him laughed, having to pause the video game so they wouldn't mess up.

"Hey, y'all are supposed to be my best friends." I complained. "And I wouldn't say we're getting along so much as we're coming to an understanding."

"Keith came out to you in a very intimate way Lance. You don't think he considers you a friend after that?" I scoffed, trying not to blush red at Pidge's suggestive smirk.

"Intimate? We just talked. We were in separate chairs. We weren't even touching or anything." I argued, unable to stop myself from blushing at that point.

"You two were alone in a room." Hunk began to list off.

"Allura and Shiro were in the kitchen!" I argued.

"You two were alone in a room." Hunk restated. "He personally came out to you, offered you food, you two were very "genuine and sincere" as you put it." He continued with a smile.

"We were! What's the big deal? I don't know what you two are getting at here." I grumbled, crossing my arms. Hunk and Pidge shared a look.

"When are you going to tell him you're bisexual." I was really burning up now. I don't know why my sexuality had anything to do with Keith. Sure he was into guys but Keith already said I wasn't his type so what's the point? I guess I could come out to him but it's not like it would do anything besides.. I was trying _not_ to like him.

"I don't know. Why does it matter?" I asked.

"He's out of the loop." Hunk said with a shrug.

"So? You guys were for a while too. I'll tell him when the time is right or when I'm comfortable. I still haven't gotten used to this yet." I still hadn't told my family. I didn't know how they were going to react.

"You're right." Pidge finally says. "Tell him at your own pace but you gotta give that gay ass pining boy a shred of hope." I stared at her in confusion. Was she still talking about Keith here?

"What?" I asked but Pidge unpacked the game, causing my starship to crash into an enemy fighter pilot and Hunk to spiral out of control into deep space. "Hey!" We both shouted as our characters re-spawned. Pidge just laughed and by the end of the night, I had completely forgotten her comment about pining Keith.


	26. Shots, Shots, Shots

_Playlist: No Idea - All Time Low_

**_After_ **

"I can't I'm Captain of the swim team now." Half of my friends groaned. Ever since I was appointed captain at the end of spring semester, I hadn't stopped mentioning it. They were all a little sick of me bringing it up.

"Come on Lance! It's your off season." Matt complained. I rolled my eyes at him, continuing to scroll through my phone without looking up. After they had gotten me completely wasted last year, they had been itching to do it again.

_"Lance is fun, drunk Lance is insane." Pidge said excitedly, clinging to my arm the morning after our first frat party. I had groaned and nearly puked onto the floor which made her wrinkle her nose and move away from me, brushing back her bangs._

_"Okay but hungover Lance really hates all of your guts." I grumbled before stumbling to the bathroom and promptly throwing up in the toilet._

"Yeah well, remember what happened last time?" I asked him. I heard everyone laugh a little.

"Oh don't be a big baby!" Allura called out from the kitchen. "Come have a shot with us. Just one, please." She begged. I shook my head again. I was an athlete of the school and even though we were off campus, in Shiro, Allura and Matt's apartment, it could still get me in trouble, even kicked off the team if other people found out I was even here.

"Lance, it's your favorite." My hands stilled on my phone as Hunk said this.

"Are you fucking with me?" I asked him, slowly swiveling my head. But no, he wasn't. There was my _favorite_ bottle of tequila in his hands and my jaw dropped, making him laugh. "Are you shitting me right now!" I exclaimed, jumping up and walking towards everyone. "Who bought this?" Seeing as Shiro, Matt and Allura were the only ones old enough to buy alcohol in this damn friend group, it had to be one of them but who had told them that this was my favorite.

"I did." Shiro said triumphantly.

"Shiro I could kiss you." I breathed out, taking the bottle from Hunk's hands. Shiro laughed nervously. "One shot." I said, licking my lips. "And no more." I warned all of them.

"One shot." Allura repeated. "We promise."

Screw. All. Of. Them.

One shot my ass.

Matt passed around the shot glasses. Some of them were from Las Vegas gift shops, the others had national park landmarks stamped on them or some other vague monuments. Those were most likely Allura's. Shiro poured the tequila delicately and smirked as he got to mine and Keith's glass. "You've never had tequila before have you baby brother?" I looked over at him and Keith's cheeks burned red slightly.

"Uhh.. No." Keith smelled the alcohol and made a slight disgusted face. Shiro laughed.

"Get him a chaser from the fridge will ya Matt? I don't want him throwing it up because that's a damn waste of alcohol." Matt grinned, grabbing a bottle of red Gatorade for Keith but also grabbed a few extras for anyone else who disliked the taste. Hunk passed the red Gatorade over to the dark haired boy who stared at the shot glass with fear.

"Is it that bad?"

"Oh this?" I said, gesturing to the bottle. "It goes down easy-peasy." I winked at him and Keith rolled his eyes, not meeting my gaze.

"Okay enough talking let's get this party started!" Pidge exclaimed. It's funny, I never really pictured Pidge as much of a drinker, and she's not. Her and Matt are very calculated. They do drink alcohol but since they hate getting drunk and don't even like the little buzz that comes with it, they immediately eat food or drink water to flush it out of their system as fast as they put it in. The only time I have seen Matt slightly drunk, he kept talking in medical terms about his blood system and his brain cognition. It was kind of hilarious.

"One, two.." We all threw the shot back as Allura counted down. I was completely fine. Hunk and Shiro coughed a little and made sour faces but kept it down. Pidge didn't even drink all of it. She drank maybe half of the shot and then downed half of a green Gatorade before taking the rest of it and finishing the Gatorade. Matt and Allura downed the shot and _then_ the Gatorade. But Keith.. Was struggling. He looked like he wanted to spit it out and his violet eyes were so wide, I almost laughed. I clamped my hand over his mouth. He immediately blushed red.

"Swallow it Mullet or I swear to god..." Hunk got the Gatorade ready, screwing off the top as I watched Keith swallow the alcohol. I removed my hand and Keith let out this adorably pained noise as he grabbed the Gatorade and drank the entire thing in basically one giant gulp.

"What the fuck was that!" Keith shouted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. We all laughed at his dismay. "That was horrible! Easy-peasy my ass Lance." He said, glaring at me and shoving my shoulder. I picked up the bottle of tequila.

"It's not my fault you have low tolerance for alcohol." I took a swig from the bottle as Hunk and Pidge cheered. I kept eye contact with Keith the entire time and his eyes widened watching me drink the tequila without a problem.

"Alright, alright. Lance." Shiro said, holding out his and for the bottle. I licked my lips and handed it back to him.

"That's impossible." Keith sputtered. "That's the worst thing I've _ever_ tasted." He did look slightly amazed though and dare I say, impressed that I hadn't even felt the slightest urge to spit out the tequila.

"Hey Lance, how many shots can you drink of this." Matt asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Hey, we said onl-" Shiro covered Allura's mouth with his hand. She elbowed him in the ribs and pushed his prosthetic arm away gently, making a face at him. This was a damn conspiracy.

"Come on, we want to see." Pidge said, trying to edge me on.

"Please, I could drink the whole bottle and not spit any of it out." I said with a roll of my eyes. This gloat was my downfall and I should not have made it.

"Then show us." Shiro said.

"I'm not falling for that." I argued.

"Scared?" Keith asked, smirking next to me.

"You're the one who couldn't hold it down." I said, turning to him. Sometimes it surprised me that Keith was a little shorter than me. Sometimes it seemed like his attitude gave him an extra two inches. Maybe that's why I'm always surprised.

"Alright, a competition." Pidge exclaims, practically twirling with delight. "You and Keith. Let's see who can down the most shots."

"I'm in." I laughed as Keith said this so confidently.

"You're going to loose!" I cried out, running a hand through my hair.

"You couldn't even drink one shot, let alone multiple."

"Scared I'll beat you?" I always forget how competitive he is. I set my shoulders and stared Keith down.

"No. I'm not. You're on Kogane." Keith smirked.

And that's how I know that my friends aren't really my friends because they edged me on into a drinking match with Keith. Admittedly, Keith went through more shots than I thought he would. They only laid out four for each of us, our friends didn't want us to die (more realistically, they didn't want Keith to die from the taste but whatever).

Hunk counted us down and in the time it took me to go through two shots, Keith only had one. So when I finished all four, he had gone through two so of course I was the winner but that wasn't why he agreed to compete against me, that was pretty evident by the grin on his face afterwards. "And now, you're gonna get drunk." His cheeks were red from the alcohol and as I stared at him, the realization of it all hit me.

"You guys!" I shouted as they busted up laughing.

"You'll live McClain." Shiro said as Allura turned up the music, respectively set as _Shots_. "Promise." And live I did but I was pretty fuckin embarrassing as well.

* * *

"Hunk you are the most gorgeous human being I've ever met!" I exclaimed, squishing his face in between my hands. Hunk laughed, slowly removing my hands from his face before taking a sip of his mixed drink. That's the only way Hunk liked alcohol, was if it was completely masked by something else.

"Thanks bud."

"And Pidge! Pidge is also the most gorgeous human being!" I cried out, moving to her next, on the couch. She groaned and tried shoving me off her but I wouldn't let go.

"Lance! Let go please!" She begged.

"Hey." I said seriously. "You made me like this." I kissed her cheek and she laughed a little before shoving me towards Shiro.

"Oh go kiss someone else you idiot."

"That's right! Would you do the honors Shiro my man." I said, bowing to him like a Buffon. He was sitting in an arm chair in a complete dad stance. He even had a beer in his hands to complete the look.

"Buddy we've talked about this. I'm not gonna kiss you when you're drunk." Shiro said putting the bottle to his lips as Allura laughed.

"So when I'm sober you're fair game?" I winked at him, causing Matt to nearly die of laughter at how embarrassed Shiro was.

"Lance, your bisexual is showing." Hunk teased. I gasped dramatically, trying to cover my chest, as if a pink, purple and blue flag might burst out of my body.

"Oh man! I'm so sorry!" I said as everyone laughed.

"Wait.." Came Keith's tired voice, picking himself up from the floor a little. His eyes were a little glazed from the alcohol but he also looked pretty confused at the moment. "You're bisexual Lance?"

"You didn't know?" Allura asked. "I thought Shiro told you."

"I don't think so. I thought Lance would tell him." Shiro replied with a shrug. Keith continued to stare at me and I gave him a lopsided grin. Well crap. I guess Now was as good a time as any to let him know? I was too tipsy at the moment to explain myself so I just decided to embrace it.

"I put the bi in bicycle." Hunk groaned.

"That was bad." Matt noted.

"I put the bi in bible?" I questioned. Pidge threw a pillow at me as the others laughed. "Oh, oh. How about, I put the bi in bitch!"

"Well you definitely do." Allura said with a laugh.

"Thank you princess. I'm glad you think so." I flopped down onto the floor with Keith. "Sorry I didn't tell you before. I know you came out to me but I just barely started being comfortable with myself.. ya know?" I explained. Keith nodded his head lightly, staring at me in slight awe. "Oh and, that friend I said dated Jason, that was me."

"Huh.. that makes sense." He murmured, getting this far away look in his eyes.

* * *

Allura made me drink tons of water before everyone crashed out so I wouldn't have a headache in the morning and she even kissed my forehead mom style before she put Shiro to bed. Hunk, Keith and I slept in the living room while Pidge shared a bed with her brother. He had carried her to his room saying they used to sleep in the same bed as kids.

"She used to have a lot of nightmares but shh.. I didn't tell you that." We had all chuckled as he carried her lifeless form away. Hunk was already snoring loudly from the arm chair, head tilted back and mouth open. I glanced over at Keith still sitting on the floor but looking completely sober.

"You're not gonna sleep there are you?" I asked him, gesturing to the floor. He glanced up.

"You're on the couch."

"And what you think I'm gonna be a dick and not let you sleep up here?" Keith didn't say anything. "Come on." I patted the couch cushion next to me. Allura had already given me a ton of blankets because I somehow can never get warm and I was all bundled up and sitting in the middle of the sofa.

"Are you still drunk?" Keith asked as he turned off the lights.

"Maybe just buzzed." I replied, rubbing my eyes. He carefully sat down next to me and I threw the blankets over him as well.

"Lance you don't.."

"Shut up Mullet and go to sleep. I'm too tired to argue with you." I told him. Keith shut his mouth and I closed my eyes leaning into the pillows. I woke up the next morning with Keith sound asleep against my shoulder and a slight hangover.

Extracting myself from Keith's side, I grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the sink. I was glad I woke up before Keith did or anyone else for that matter. It would have been pretty embarrassing for him to wake up next to me like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be at least four other party scenes so I hope y'all are ready and aren't like ????? What is she doing?????? I'm just like realllllly here for party boy!Lance. Plus, despite being a introvert I did hang out with my friends a lot and do stupid shit like this. 😅


	27. Friends?

_Playlist: The Heart What's What It Wants -Selena Gomez_

**_After_ **

Keith was pissed off. But what was new? That boy always has a scowl on his face it seems. "Rough day dude?" Shiro asks him as Keith tosses his keys onto the kitchen counter angrily.

"Some idiot nearly ran me over right now! And that's on top of all the other bullshit I've gone through today."

"Ah poor baby. What's wrong?" I asked from my position on the couch. Keith flipped me off and I laughed a little as he began to rant to Shiro about the bad grade he got on a test, the girl in the cafeteria who spilled coffee down the front of his shirt and.... Jason. "Wait, you've been talking to that asshole?" I demanded, standing up to look at him.

"Lance." Hunk said softly to my right.

"Why? I told you to stay away from him." I continued, ignoring Hunk. Keith rolled his eyes at me.

"He didn't seem like a bad guy. I thought you were over exaggerating but he is sort of a dick and now that I want nothing to do with him... He's _all_ over me."

"I told you dude. Jason's _not_ a nice guy. He could just be trying to mess with you because he knows it'll piss me off." I said, moving closer to Shiro and Kieth.

"What like a guy can't like me on their own?" Shiro put his hand on his brothers arm, probably to stop him from getting in my face but Keith just shook him away.

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying Jason is using you, like he did me." Keith scoffed.

"Yeah, well maybe he just used _you_." What. The. Fuck. I know I didn't really give Keith any background on Jason and I, but he shouldn't have said something like that. Jason really messed with my head and I didn't want Keith to fall victim to him as well. I was just trying to look out for him.

"Hey fuck off Mullet. I was just trying to help."

"I don't need your fuckin help Lance. I didn't ask for it."

"Hey, stop it." Allura commanded as she rushed into the living room but Keith and I didn't pay attention to her or to any of our other friends as they asked us to calm down.

"Well then maybe you deserve to get your heart played with you dick."

"I'm a dick? You're one of the single most annoying people I've ever met Lance. You never know when to shut up or when to stop teasing me and it's aggravating. Why can't you just back the hell off of me and leave me the hell alone!"

"We're supposed to be friends Keith! Would it kill you to laugh at one of my stupid jokes?"

"Yes because they're always about my hair or the way I dress or do something. I already feel self-conscious enough as it is without your relentless fucking teasing! You are probably the biggest asshole I've ever met." I laughed sarcastically.

"Even above your Ex Mullet?" I asked.

"Yes! Even above him and I fuckin hate him!" My shoulders slumped a little as I stared at Keith's angry expression. I don't know why that sentence hit me so hard. I never thought Keith hated me but I guess it makes sense... And here I thought we were beginning to get along. "You're _such_ an asshole Lance." There was so much venom behind his words that I cringed and took a step away from him.

"Okay." I said slowly, feeling everyone's eyes on us. "I uhhh.. Sorry. I should learn to just shut up." I glanced over at Hunk who was looking at me with concern and Pidge who was clinging to his arm, steps from jumping in between Keith and I. She probably thought we were going to get physical. I slowly glanced back at Keith who seemed completely surprised that I was backing down. "I'm just gonna.." I grabbed my jacket off the back of the couch and put it on.

"Lance wait.." Allura said, realizing I was heading for the door.

"No it's fine. I'm sorry for upsetting you Keith and ruining the mood in here but I gotta.. I should just..." I opened the door and took off down the stairs, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. Fight or flight mode. Keith was probably ready to fight but I was more of a _run away_ kind of person.

I didn't know what I was going to do exactly. Walk back to campus? Their apartment wasn't that far from it but I wouldn't feel comfortable walking alone. I pulled out my phone to hail an Uber. My hands shook as I opened up the app. I don't know what's wrong with me. I didn't know Keith felt that way about me teasing him. I don't mean half the shit I say but I guess he didn't see it that way. Maybe I'm used to people firing back their own insults at me and being sarcastic. I can always tell when my friends are upset and don't need a laugh but a hug, but for some reason Keith was so hard for me to read. Was that because I was trying not to get close to him? Or because I was just _that_ bad of a friend?

"Lance wait!" A voice shouted after me.

"Shiro it's fine. I'm just going to call an Uber or something and..." I said, not bothering to turn around.

"Lance.." a hand came down on my shoulder and that's when it registered in my brain. It wasn't Shiro that called after me but Keith. I turned my head to look at him. His violet eyes were full of concern now. "I'm sorry too."

"For what? I'm the one that pissed you off. You're right, I shouldn't tease you for shit like that. It's not cool, even if I don't mean anything by it. I shouldn't do that to my friends.. Maybe I'm just a bad person or whatever but I'm sorry." I turned back again, moving away so his hand was no longer on my shoulder.

"You're not a bad person Lance. I just got.. It's really okay. It's not that big of a deal to me. I blew it out of proportion a little. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I've had a bad day. I took it out on you." Keith says, following me down the path to the front gate.

"It's fine Keith. You shouldn't be apologizing anyways. It's my fault. I'll stop teasing you about your hair and your clothes. I don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes. I just say things and sometimes they're not the right thing to say. Your style is cool. I wish I dressed more like you." What the fuck???? _I wish I dressed more like you???_ I needed to call a fucking Uber. I had to get away from this conversation.

"It's not _your_ fault. I don't hate you Lance. I shouldn't have said that and... Will you look at me." He demanded, grabbing my elbow. I turn around. "I don't hate you." He repeats. "My Ex is _way_ worse that you. I didn't mean _any_ of that Lance." He took a deep breath. "Please come back to the apartment." We stare at each other in silence for a little bit.

"Are you sure? The atmosphere in there is probably going to be realllllyy awkward now." Keith laughed a little. "See, that's all I'm ever trying to get you to do, laugh but I guess you don't understand when I'm joking around with you." Fuck. Why'd I say it in such a sappy way? It sounded better in my head.

"I guess neither of us really understands the other." Keith says with a shrug. "So we should probably fix that."

"Yeah. Apparently communication is key in every relationship." He grins and I bite down on my bottom lip. "So how about I playfully nudge you every time I'm joking around? Is that good body language?" I asked, elbowing him lightly in the chest. Keith snorted.

"You're an idiot Lance." My smile faltered a little. It felt a little awkward between us right now. I ran one hand through my hair nervously.

"We're friends right?" I ask, holding out my free hand to Keith. He looked down at it with a small smile before reaching out and taking my hand, shaking it lightly.

"Yeah, we're friends Lance." He squeezes my hand before the two of us let go. "So can you please stop calling me Mullet?"

"Okay Keith." His cheeks turned a little pink but I don't know why. It was kind of cold outside so maybe it was that. "We should uh.. Go back upstairs then." Keith sighs as the two of us begin to head back to the apartment.

"Are they going to joke about how we _kissed and made up_? Because I have a feeling they're going to."

"Oh Keith my man." I said, throwing my arm around him. "I have no doubt in my mind that that is exactly what they're going to do." The front door of the apartment is wide open and Shiro, Allura, Pidge and Hunk are talking quietly amongst one another, all of them standing in a huddle in the living room. "We're back!" I shout, startling them. Keith chuckles as he closes the door behind us.

"Are you two good?" Allura demands. Keith and I share a smile.

"Yeah, were fine." Keith answers for the both of us.

"Good." Pidge says, marching over before punching both of us in the chest and then hugging us at the same time. "If you fight like that again, you'll be catching these hands." She whispers to us a little menacingly. Keith and I laugh and hug her back.

"I don't condone violence but I'm with Pidge on this." Hunk agrees, joining the hug.

"And so are we." Allura says as her and Shiro join in on the hug fest. "Never fight again boys."

"Yes _Mom_." I joke lightly. Keith laughs and so does Pidge against my chest. The door behind us opens to reveal Matt. He pauses in the doorway when he sees all of us.

"Did I miss something?" Matt asks.

"We really wanted to know what each other smelled like so we created this group hug." I tell him which makes Matt laugh.

"Ew." Pidge says, trying to dislodge herself from between Hunk and I.

"Lance." Shiro says with a sigh as Allura and I laugh.

"Bring it in buddy!" I tell him, letting go of Pidge to invite him into the hug. "We're actually having a hugging contest. I think I'm winning so far."

"I beg to differ." Hunk says as Matt closed the door and walked into our circle, putting his arm around his sister and then his other on my shoulder. "I give the best hugs."

"Well I'm about to beat you right now." Matt counters. "But seriously. Why are we hugging?"

"Let's just enjoy the moment for now and after we can talk about how Keith and Lance kissed and made up." Allura says with a sly smile. Matt gasps loudly as I hang my head and groan.

"They kissed!" He shouts. Keith is blushing red and everyone laughs around us. "Wait, what happened?" He complains when no one replies. "Ugh this is what I get for coming home late."


	28. Gotta Stay High

_Playlist: Half a Heart - One Direction_

**_After_ **

"Can we move the furniture around?" I called into the kitchen as Keith and I stood on opposite ends of the sofa. "You know how much Tristen likes to roll around on the ground when she's drunk." Allura and Shiro both laughed.

"Yeah, go ahead." Allura called out. "I don't want her hurting herself by running into anything." I motioned for Keith to help me and together we lifted the sofa and began moving it back up against the wall by the window instead of having it sit in the middle of the room.

"I've never really been to a party like this before." Keith remarks as we continue to move the coffee tables, and arm chairs to the back wall, clumping all of the furniture together. We're all going to be sleeping over here too so it's best if there's a lot of floor space.

"What do you mean? We literally had a party like this two weeks ago." Keith rolls his eyes.

"That was just us." He says, gesturing to us and then Shiro and Allura. "Not the seven of us _and_ Tristen, Aurora, Jeremy, and Sarah. That's eleven people! That's so many." I laugh at him which only makes Keith pout.

"You never went to a high school party?" I ask him, assuming that the students at his military college didn't get lit on the weekends. Keith shakes his head no.

"I was never really invited." I laugh.

"Nobody's _really invited_ Keith. You just show up if you know where it's at!" Keith shrugs as we finish moving furniture. The two of us drop down onto the couch together and he crosses his arms, thinking. "Hey man, it's okay. High school sucks _ass_ anyways and so do their parties. Hanging out with your friends like this, it's more fun." Keith looks up at me with a smile.

"Yeah I can't wait for everyone else to get here." As soon as those words leave his mouth, there is an excessive amount of door belling and knocking coming from the front door. I grin as I hear Aurora and Tristen demand to be let in from the other side.

"Guess the fun starts now." I said, hitting Keith's shoulder lightly. He laughs as I move to open the door.

* * *

Two hours later, everyone is sitting in the living room getting drunk off their asses. "I can't believe we've never done this before!" Tristen shouted. "How dare y'all not invite us over sooner." She says accusingly, turning to Shiro and Allura. Both of them shrug, laughing as Tristen takes another shot of tequila.

"Hey, save some for everybody else." I say, taking the bottle from her before taking a drink from it. Tristen sticks her tongue out at me. "Hey Keith!" I call out to him. He's sitting next to Jeremy and Hunk, the three of them talking about something but he looks up when I call him. "Want some?" I ask jokingly, holding up the bottle. He flips me off. Hunk laughs and I hear Jeremy ask what's wrong with tequila but Keith just shakes his head.

"Wanna get high?" Aurora asks, plopping down next to me, a bag of edibles in her lap. "Jeremy doesn't want to tonight." She rolls her eyes a little.

"I'll get high with you." Matt offers.

"Nice." They fist bump and Matt grabs two sugar coated gummies from her bag. There has to be at least twenty in there. Aurora usually takes them when she's stressed out, which is often. Aurora turns back to me and shakes the bag. I laugh.

"Tempting but I'll pass. I think I'll just stick to alcohol this time around."

"Puh-lease." Sarah said, reaching into Aurora's bag. "We've been here two hours and you've barely had anything to drink McClain." She says accusingly.

"He's worried because of what happened last time we got him wasted." Pidge says, coming up behind us from the couch. Aurora offers her an edible but she also passes.

"I wish I could have seen that. Wasted Lance is the _best_." Aurora emphasizes.

"Did you not see any of Pidge's videos?" Matt asks. I glare over at one of my best friends. She's grinning mischievously.

"You took videos?" I demand. Pidge just shrugs and goes back to talking to Tristen and Sarah. I sigh. My friends are the worst. I love them.

* * *

An hour later, after Aurora is well on her way to being high, she makes a bet with me. "I bet you I can get Keith to eat an edible." I shook my head.

"No, he wouldn't do it. He likes being levelheaded. He's a lightweight. That's why he doesn't drink much or often." Aurora snickers.

"I have my ways McClain. Do you bet me?" And so I bet her, only because I thought she was actually going to tell him what was in her bag, not just that they were gummy bears."Hey Keith want a gummy?" Aurora asks, shaking the plastic bag in her hands in front of his face. Keith glances over and doesn't seem to take note of Aurora's sly smile. He doesn't know her that well yet so I guess he wouldn't have noticed but still...

"Yeah. I love gummy bears." He says, reaching into the bag.

"You know, Keith.." Shiro begins. "Those aren't actually..." but he says it all too late because Keith has already tossed three gummies into his mouth, leaving Aurora and Matt laughing like crazy. "Gummy bears." His brother finishes with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Keith asks, chewing them slowly as if he's afraid they're poisoned or made of dog shit. Shiro shakes his head at all of us.

"This is why they don't invite us over as often." Sarah says, hitting Aurora and then Matt for laughing so hard.

"Dude, you just ate three marijuana laced gummy bears." I explained.

"What! No way!" He shouts, which only makes Aurora and Matt laugh harder as Jeremy, Tristen and Pidge join in. "Why didn't someone stop me! What's gonna happen am I going to die?" He demands, grabbing at his chest like he might be able to stop the drugs from working their way through his system.

"No dude, you're gonna be fine. Just really, really highhhhhhh." Matt says, stretching out the word. Aurora bursts into a fit of giggles as Keith begins to groan.

"I've never been high!" He cries out. Aurora stands and moves towards Keith before squishing his face in her hands and getting really up in his face, making Jeremy and I snicker a little. She's always a little more touchy when she's high.

"Hey, it's okay. The important thing is that when you begin to feel weird you tell us."

"W-weird?" Keith asks with a stutter as she lets go of his face.

"Just tell me if you get anxious buddy. I'll talk you down and then you can eat some food and have the best fucking nights sleep you've had since you were in diapers." I reply. Keith doesn't look too convinced though.

"Anxious? Why would I get anxious?" He asks in a rather anxious voice. Aurora just shushes him and goes back to sitting in Jeremy's lap, snuggling into his chest.

"We won't let anything happen to you dude." Shiro says from across the room. "I've had to deal with Matt's high ass for four years now. I know how to handle it."

"You'll be fine Keith. It'll be fine." I said with a smirk.

"How do you know have you ever been high?" He demanded.

"Hell yeah." Aurora shakes the bag over at me but I shake my head. "I'll pass again. I want to watch Keith's reaction." Sarah whispers something to Pidge that makes her laugh out loud and then the two of them go back to whispering to one another suspiciously as I punch Keith in the arm. "This is going to be hilarious."

Except, a couple hours later it was more embarrassing than hilarious.

* * *

"Can I sit here? Cool." Keith said without even waiting for my reply as he flopped down into my lap. Pidge, Sarah and Tristen started whooping and hollering and Allura had to shush them, saying the neighbors might complain about how loud we were being. They burst into a round of giggles instead as I nervously stared at Keith who was continuing his conversation with Aurora like he hadn't just sat down on my lap.

"Uh... Keith." I said, clearing my throat and trying to get his attention. My voice cracked. God. _Fucking_. Damnit. Hunk was trying his best not to laugh which, for him, is really hard especially if he's buzzed. "Keith, my man..." I tried again. "You're sitting on me."

"Yeah!" He replied enthusiastically. "Am I heavy. Want me to get off?" Matt was laughing so hard now that no sound was coming out of his mouth. Shiro seemed worried he might be choking.

"I just Uhh..." Jesus Christ he was adorable. His cheeks were flushed red and the smile on his face was so wide and perfect. "Nope. Not a problem."

"Okay!" He immediately turned back to Aurora as my face burned red with embarrassment. Keith didn't seem to notice though but everyone else in the room did. What type of high was he on? Matt's the type that can't stop fuckin laughing at everything. Hunk says that I am apparently the one who gets really fuckin philosophical and Aurora is the chill, mellow type. Keith just seemed.. Silly. Which was so unlike his usual self. It was kind of cute but I hate that I thought that.

* * *

While Aurora was no longer high, Matt, Sarah and Keith still were but that's probably because Matt went and smoked in his room and Sarah had eaten just as many gummies as Keith. The night was coming to a close though so everyone was already nodding off and I was helping Allura clean the palace up a little. Shiro and Hunk were talking in the living room, Keith on the floor in front of them looking... Disengaged. Aurora and Jeremy were watching funny vines on the couch together and honestly... Goals. Tristen, Sarah and Pidge meanwhile were huddled in sleeping bags on the floor laughing about something quietly.

"Thanks for helping Lance." Allura says, wiping at her brow as she finishes washing dishes. I hand her the towel hanging on the oven door and she takes it with a smile.

"Anything for you princess." I say, which makes her laugh. Princess sort of became my nickname for her after I used that princess pick-up-line on her. I thought it would piss Shiro off if I gave his girlfriend a pet-name but he thinks it's pretty cute. I even heard him call her princess a couple of times too. I headed back in the living room to find more empty plastic cups when I noticed how... Weird Keith was acting.

"Hey buddy.. You alright?" I asked him. He looked up at me wildly, his eyes still red.

"I feel like..." Keith said, looking at his hands, continuing to turn them over and over, stretching out his fingers as if he couldn't really feel them. "I feel like I'm having an out of body experience."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean.." Keith said, standing. He gave me a weird look and pushed my shoulder a little, as if testing I was really in front of him. "I swear to god, I'm standing in that corner over their watching all of this." Keith said, pointing to an empty corner by the door. "But I just touched you so I'm pretty fucking sure I'm not in the corner over there but at the same time." He looked at me weirdly again and poked my cheek. "Jesus I don't know what's real right now." I laughed.

"You want some water Keith? I'll get you some."

"What's the water gonna do?" He questioned, continuing to poke my chest, my arms, my face. I snickered.

"You drink it. Nothings going to happen but you should go to sleep." I tell him, touching his shoulder lightly. He flinches but I think that's because he still thinks he's having an out of body experience.

"Want to crash in my room Keith?" Matt asks. Keith looks over at him and then at me and everyone else in the room.

"Where's everyone else sleeping?" He asks.

"Here!" The girls cheer from the floor. Aurora and Jeremy are somehow going to share the couch, Allura and Shiro are going back to their room soooo.....

"So Lance, Hunk and I can go in your room?" Keith asks. I kind of thought everyone who didn't live here was just going to sleep in the living room but I guess Keith thought differently.

"Yeah I'll watch the girls, make sure they don't eat y'all out of house and home." Jeremy comments. Pidge and Tristen immediately begin complaining, saying they wouldn't do that but we all know better. Matt shrugs at Keith's suggestion.

"Why not."

"I'm gonna make a pillow fort!" Keith says excitedly before heading into Matt's room. Allura has a thing for throw pillows so he probably could make a fort in there.

"You know where the extra blankets are right Lance?" Allura asks. I nod. I've slept over here enough times to know my way around the place.

As Hunk and I get ready for bed, changing and brushing our teeth together in the small bathroom to save time, he nudges me a little and gives me this... _Look_. I spit out the toothpaste and arch an eyebrow at him. "What?" I ask.

"Keith?" He prompts.

"What about Keith?" Hunk just shrugs before rinsing out his mouth. Aurora and Tristen are waiting outside the bathroom when we exit and they make faces at us, saying we took way longer than need be. Hunk and I just laugh and head to Matt's room where Keith has indeed, built a pillow fort.

"Looks cool dude." Hunk says. Keith smiles.

"Yeah." He says a bit sheepishly. I run my hand through my hair and sigh as I glance around Matt's nerdy room. Books, wadded up balls of paper, news articles tapped to the walls, a of fo his favorite superhero. "So how are we going to sleep?" Keith questions. Huh.. He's less high now and he seems to be freaking out.

"You okay buddy? Not feeling paranoid or anything?" I ask him.

"Should I?" Keith asks nervously. I shrug.

"It's just the marijuana, stay calm okay. We're just going to lie down and pass out." I say, flopping down next to Keith who is sitting cross legged on the blanket he laid out on the floor. Hunk sits down on my right as Matt walks in.

"Good, lets go to sleep nerds." He says, immediately hitting the light and bathing the room in darkness. I hear Keith breathe in sharply so I nudge him a little.

"Hey, I swear, once you go to sleep you'll feel great."

"Okay." Keith whispers, lying down next to me, almost in sync with Hunk. "Night guys."

"Night losers." Matt says, climbing into his bed. Hunk and I chuckle as the three of us pull the blankets around us. When I wake up the next morning, Keith is pressed up against my side fast asleep, one arm draped across my body. I, again, have to get up before he, Hunk or Matt notices. They'd never stop making fun of us otherwise.

* * *

"Jesus Christ why didn't you stop me?" Keith asks after I recount to him everything he did the night before, minus the sleeping thing. I shrug.

"It was kind of funny." I admit. "It was cool seeing you so... Unlike yourself and hey, you liked being high. Don't even deny it." He smiles a little.

"Yeah. Aurora's cool. We should all do that again sometime." He says with a smile.

"Yeah, we should."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DONT CONDONE UNDERAGE DRINKING OR DRUGS. Like if you're in a safe place like with friends or family, cool. PARTIES, LIKE BIG PARTIES CAN GET A LIL WILD SO JUST BE CAREFUL YALL IF YOU DO WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN STUFF LIKE THIS. And like pls don't do drugs that are like highly addictive... marijuana is addictive so be smart y'all.   
> Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.
> 
> Also this was so long???? And unnecessary??? Sorry???


	29. Flirt Central

_Playlist: Just a Little Bit of Your Heart -- Ariana Grande_

**_After_ **

I was really surprised that Keith hadn't kicked me yet or something. I was, after all, leaning completely against his legs. My back wasn't even touching the couch and I didn't mind one bit. We were all hanging out in Matt, Allura and Shiro's apartment again. We don't really have anything better to do most weekends so Pidge, Keith, Hunk and I usually head over here unless we're bogged down by homework. Currently, Pidge, Hunk and Keith were sitting on the couch and normally, I would've sat down right in between Hunk and Keith but the four of us being squished on the couch isn't _that_ ideal so sometimes one of us sits on the floor. Today, that person was me and normally I'd lean up against Hunk, maybe even Pidge is she's down for it, but Keith was in the middle of the couch and so I picked him. At least, that was the reason I kept telling myself why I picked him.

When I first leaned against him, I felt him stiffen up a little but I tried to be nonchalant about it. It was no big deal. We were friends. I could do this right? I was a lot more touchy with Hunk within the first few weeks of knowing him so this was nothing! I couldn't tell if he had relaxed about it or not but when Keith started telling a story and I looked up at him, putting my arm on his leg, he didn't seem that uncomfortable. He was just the right amount of uncomfortable, where he wasn't sure why I was leaning against him of all people. He had only moved once since we sat down and that was just so he could go to the bathroom. He had poked the top of my head about thirty minutes into me sitting against him and at first, I thought he was mad but he didn't say he was.

"Move for a sec. I have to go to the bathroom." I scooted across the carpet so I could lean against the coffee table instead. I think Keith thought that I was going to take his seat or maybe even switch to leaning against Hunk but I stayed up against the coffee table, continuing to explain to Pidge why I thought lemurs were the better species of monkey. When he came back and sat down, I immediately switched positions again and went right back to leaning against him.

"How did you two even get on this conversation?" Allura asks Pidge and I, wrinkling her nose as she gives us a funny look.

"Because Lance brought up that lemurs were his favorite animal and when I asked why, it wasn't because lemurs are really cute and fluffy or because they're very smart. He said lemurs are his favorite animal because of that movie Madagascar so I told him it was a stupid reason."

"It is not a stupid reason!" I argued as Shiro and Allura laughed. "It's a good movie! It's one of my favorites."

"Dude, that movie is for kids." Keith says ruffling my hair much to my amazement and nearly making me loose my train of thought.

"And we were all kids once Keith. Thanks for helping me prove my point buddy." He had laughed and Matt and Hunk diverted the conversation after that. It was getting late now though. Pidge, Hunk and I didn't have class on Monday until the afternoon but Keith had an early morning class and so he was going to be leaving soon on his motorcycle. Sometimes I asked him about it, if it was making any more weird noises or anything. He said he would tell me if it did but I still asked frequently anyways.

"Alright, I think I have to head off." Keith said, nudging me a little so I would get off of him. I was just tall enough to lay my head down onto his lap like this so I looked up at him with a smile.

"Aww, Do you have to buddy?" I asked. Pidge and Hunk snickered and Keith seemed at a loss for words.

"Y-yes." He stammered out. I stood up and let him walk past me before sitting down between Hunk and Pidge. I felt Hunk nudge me but I wasn't paying attention. I was watching Keith bend down to gab his shoes and I couldn't help myself.

"Hey Keith!" I shouted across the room he glanced over at me quizzically. "Did you sit in a pile of sugar?" Everyone gave me a funny look. Only Pidge and Hunk groaned, seemingly knowing where this was going. Keith checked his clothes, brushing the back of his pants self-consciously.

"Uh.. No? Why?" He said in a questioning tone.

"Cause you have a pretty sweet ass." Allura and I busted up laughing while Matt and Shiro groaned along with my two best friends. Keith just glared at me and I think even flipped me off before tying up the laces of his shoes.

"Whatever Lance." He muttered under his breath, cheeks red in embarrassment. "I'll see you later brother." Keith fist bumped Shiro but Allura jumped up to give him a hug before sitting back down next to her boyfriend. Keith continued to say goodbye, nodding to Matt and waving goodbye to Pidge and Hunk who were a bit too absorbed in their video game.

"I don't get a goodbye?" I asked Keith with a grin. He made that face at me where his nose scrunches up when he's annoyed. "See ya later buddy." I called out as he walked away.

"Bye Lance." He grumbled before opening the apartment door and leaving, keys jingling in his hand.

"Why are you always trying to embarrass my brother?" Shiro asked as soon as he left.

"What? Embarrass him? Psh. I would never do that." I replied sarcastically. Shiro rolled his eyes a little, smiling. "I just like seeing how flustered he gets. It's hilarious."

"I think it's great." Allura said, siding with me. "You and your brother are always so stoic. So it's great to see the two of you out of your element so to speak."

"Y'all are my guinea pigs." I explained. "I need people to test my pick up lines on."

"Yeah I don't know how many times I've heard that _sweet ass_ one." Hunk says with a shake of his head. Pidge laughs and punches me in the arm.

"Or the one about short hair." She interjects. Hunk and Pidge go back and forth on the familiar pick up lines I recite and it makes me laugh hearing the two of them say them out loud. I actually haven't tried to flirt with anyone in a while. I just want to make sure I remember my favorite pick up lines so when I do actually want to talk to someone, I'll have a cool line to start the conversation. Hopefully I'll get over this funk I'm in and hopefully I'll find someone I really like this year! And hopefully, I'll never have to see or hear about Jason ever again.

* * *

 _Sleeping Beauty_  
 _Why ya always gotta annoy my child?_ 😤

 **Lancey-Lance**  
 **?????**  
 **Remind me who your child is again** 😂😂

 _Sleeping Beauty_  
 _Keith_ 😂  
 _He told me you were being annoying earlier. Which isn't news._  
 _What'd you do this time?_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**You two talk shit about me???**

_Sleeping Beauty_  
 _Hell ya we do._  
 _You and all our other friends. My boyfriend especially_ 😂😂😂

**Lancey-Lance**   
**I didn't do much, just used a pickup line on him. He didn't appreciate it**

_Sleeping Beauty_   
_Which pickup line?_   
_The one about the ocean? The one about stars in your eyes?_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**None of the above! My young padawan. It was the sweet ass one.**

_Sleeping Beauty_   
_Classic_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**I didn't know you and Keith were that close Aurora.**

_SleepingBeauty_  
 _Are ya kidding me? I love that emo boy!_  
 _Anyways, see you tomorrow at breakfast? I still have some damn homework to do_  
 _Talk later lover boy!_ 😘

I smile at the last text from Aurora. She started calling me lover boy out of the blue one day. I didn't think it was weird or anything it was just an odd nickname, seeing as she has a boyfriend too. What was also pretty odd was that apparently Keith and Aurora talk to each other more than I thought they did. They also apparently have each other's numbers! Well, that's not that surprising. I think I remember Aurora demanding to have Keith's number not long after they met.

What was _really_ weird to me was the fact that... Apparently Keith tells Aurora when he thinks I'm being annoying. Why would Keith talk about me? Maybe he was just telling Aurora about his day. That's a weird part to include though. I shrugged away the thought though as I exited the bathroom after finishing brushing my teeth. It was nearly one o'clock and Hunk and I were getting ready for bed. I couldn't wait to fall asleep.

"Why are you always flirting with Keith?" Hunk asks me out of the blue as I begin to undress and look for my pajamas. I snort, tossing my jeans into my hamper before grabbing my nightclothes from the folds of my bed.

"I flirt with a lot of people. Keith isn't special." I reply lightly. "You guys even said that I use my pickup lines on you." I argued, pulling on my sweatpants as Hunk takes off his shirt. I'll never get over how Hunk looks with a shirt off. He has some nice arm muscles.

"I know but.." Hunk smirks. "You've been focusing your energy on Keith now. Do you like him?"

"No!" I say a bit too quickly. "I mean, he's a cool dude but I don't like him. Not like that. Sheesh Hunk where'd you get that idea." He shrugs, tugging his hurt down over his head.

"It's just something Pidge and I have been talking about." I narrow my eyes at him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing Lance." He says with a laugh. But it didn't really sound like nothing. "Goodnight dude."

"Night buddy." I said with a smile as I jumped into bed and Hunk turned off the lights.


	30. A Much Needed Talk

_Playlist: The Weight - Shawn Mendez_

**_After_ **

"Now you listen here Keith Kogane." Aurora said in her _I mean business_ voice. "You like Lance." I shake my head no vigorously. I shake my head so hard that it might just roll off my neck and onto the floor. I don't like Lance. I _can't_ like Lance. He's soooooo stupid. Stupidly pretty. But still stupid. Besides, I still can't get over the fact that he's bisexual, like _actually_ bisexual. I've never seen him flirt with boys before. Okay, that's a lie. He flirts with me, Shiro, Hunk, Matt and Jeremy on occasion but I thought that was just because he's a flirt, not that he's actually attracted to any of us. Besides, he's always using dumb pick-up lines. It's like his thing.

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope."

"No matter how many times you say no, my boy, it's not going to make me any less right." She says with a slight smirk. The two of us are currently FaceTiming in our rooms. My roommate Mark isn't here so I can express my feelings openly. I never told him about my sexual orientation, not that I should have to. I just didn't want to freak him out. For some reason the type of people I'm into can freak people out. I didn't want him to start thinking I might like him. He's not even my type anyways. He's like so far from my type that it's laughable. And I'd rather not have to deal with someone who could potentially be homophobic and, let's face it, Mark seems like he would be that kind of an asshole.

Aurora is laying on her bed, soft music coming from an unknown source, probably her laptop or maybe Tristen's. She has her hair pulled back out of her face for once so I can see her pretty brown eyes and freckles. She says she doesn't like having it up because it makes her look more like her younger brothers but I think she looks adorable. Her skin is remarkably clear and her cheeks are always slightly pink because of her pale complexion. Granted, she is darker than me still. _We're different shades of Asian_ as she likes to remark.

"Keith, are you listening to me?"

"Say that again?" I ask. Aurora rolls here eyes, she does that a lot for me.

"I said, why do you keep denying it? You always get so flustered when he flirts with you and then you complain to me about what a "jerk" he is." She says, throwing up air quotes at me. "Or how he "drives you insane" and "makes you uncomfortable". You're lying out of your ass my pretty boy." I smile a little.

"I'm not lying and I complain to you because you've known him longer and because if I complain to Hunk or Pidge or even Allura, Matt, and my brother, they'll bring it up with him."

"What makes you think I won't?" She asks, wiggling her eyebrows up and down. Sometimes her personality lines up so well with Lance and Jeremy's that it amazes me.

"Because you love me more than him." She ponders this for a moment.

"I mean you're right but..." She shrugs and I laugh. "Honestly, if you don't admit to yourself and to him about your feelings, I might just expose your gay ass to the world." I smirk.

"Most people know about my gay ass." I say.

"Maybe." She tucks a loser strand of her short hair behind her ear. "Come on, at least admit you think he's cute."

"He is, we've discussed this before. You would leave your boyfriend for him if you weren't madly in love with Jeremy." Aurora grins. I know she would never actually leave Jeremy. She told me once about the fight her and Jeremy got in and how devastated she was about it. She explained that she never wants to fight with him like that ever again.

"I plan on marrying that boy Keith. He's the only one for me." She had said it with such a dreamy look in her eyes and I was so jealous honestly, not only because Jeremy is also a pretty good looking guy but because I've always wanted something like that. A relationship I can put my all into. Instead of something half assed like what I had with my Ex.

"But just because I think he's cute, doesn't mean I'm into it."

"I call bullshit!" Tristen calls out from Aurora's end of the phone, making her laugh. "I can see that pining look in your eyes."

"I'm not pining. Nobody's pining." I argue. I expect Tristen to pop up onto the screen but she stays on her side of the room. Maybe she's busy with homework and we're interrupting her.

"Come on, I'm sure once you tell Lance you like him that he'll say it back." Aurora says.

"Why? Has he talked about me like that before." Aurora says nothing and I can tell she's trying to come up with something to say but it doesn't come to her. I shake my head. "Honestly guys, please stop encouraging me to fall for him. I don't want to actually catch feelings and then be disappointed later when I find out he's really not into me."

"But we don't know that Keith." Aurora says pleadingly. She seems to think Lance and I would make a good couple. I don't know how, seeing as how we fought constantly those first couple of weeks we knew each other.

"I do. Lance doesn't like me. He's more straightforward than that. If he liked me, he would say something."

"Except he isn't straight." Aurora grumbles, making me smile. "Well, anyways I'm going to hang up and text him and complain about how _you_ always complain to _me_ about _him_."

"I don't complain!" I shout. "Don't you dare text him that Aurora. It'll confuse him."

"Psh, no it won't. Lance is oblivious my boy. He probably won't think anything of it. Byeeeee Keithyyyyy." She starts to wave goodbye and Tristen shouts her goodbyes too. With a sigh and a smile, I wave back.

"See you guys tomorrow." Aurora blows me a kiss and we hang up, just in time for Mark to get home. Thank _god_ I've already taken a shower because now I can just go to sleep and not be bothered by him. He does some weird ass shit to prepare for bed.

"Want me to turn off the light?" Mark asks as he prepares to head for the shower.

"Yeah, thank you." Mark nods and shuts off the light as I bury my head in the covers. _Lance is oblivious_ Aurora said. He must be, if he really can't tell what his flirtatious comments do to me.


	31. Bad Girls Club

_Playlist: Right Girl Acoustic - The Maine_

**_After_ **

I have four major group chats in my phone. One is titled _Why Are There So Many People In This Group Chat_ and includes everyone; Shiro, Matt, Allura, Pidge, Sarah, Hunk, Keith, Aurora, Jeremy, Tristen and I . The second biggest one is called _The Biggest Nerds In The Galaxy_ and has the seven of us; Shiro, Matt, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, Keith and I. The third is the _Breakfast Club_ with; Jeremy, Tristen, Aurora, Keith and I. The fourth is _The Trio_ and contains only Pidge, Hunk and I.

Sometimes I mix these groups up and ask a question in _The Biggest Nerds In The Galaxy_ that was really only meant for _The Trio_. Other times, I accidentally send a meme to _Why Are There So Many People In This Group Chat_ when I meant to only send it to the _Breakfast Club_. It usually doesn't matter though. I love all of these people. They're all my friends and sometimes the mixup is a little funny. Today though, I got a notification that Aurora changed the name of one of the group chats. I thought it had been the _Breakfast Club_ one but I was wrong.

A LITTLE PARTY NEVER KILLED NOBODY

Space Dad ™  
Why the change in group name Aurora?

** Sleeping Beauty **   
** Why????  **   
** BECAUSE WE BOUT TO GET LIT IN THIS SHITTTTTTTT **

It's TristEN not TristAN  
FUQ IT UPPPPP  
WHERE WE GOIN  
WHAT WE DOIN

 **Lancey-Lance**  
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉  
 **IM READY**

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _I'm not_

SarAHHHHHHHHH  
YOU SHOULD KATE MY MATE.  
WHERE WE GOIN

_ Princess  _ 👑   
_ OOOO I KNOW _   
_ ITS BETA THETA PI'S ANUAL "CHARITY" EVENT _   
_ RIGHT!!! IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO AURORA????? _

The Hunkster   
What do you mean "charity" event??

**_An Actual Meme_ **   
**_That sorority always throws a "charity" event once a year that's disguised as a party. The money they make from charging dudes at the door is what they end up giving to some local charity._ **

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _?????_  
 _That's so shitty??? Do they even make that much money??_

Doppelgänger  
Yeah it does sound shitty but I know a girl in the sorority. One of the other girls rich fathers adds like three or four zeroes to whatever amount of money they make that night so it doesn't look bad.

** The Emo One **   
** That's still really shitty. **

Doppelgänger   
If they make 100 dollars charging people it ends up being 100,000 so it can't be that bad right??? It's for charity after all

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Soooooooo**   
**We're going right??**

** The Emo One **   
** No **

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _No_

The Hunkster   
I have homework....

_ Princess  _ 👑   
_ EVERYONE HAS TO SAY YES. _

** Sleeping Beauty **   
** IM WITH ALLURA. IF YOU DONT COME ILL PERSONALLY FIGHT YOU **

Space Dad ™  
You're like 5'6 Aurora. You don't even come up to my shoulders.

**_An Actual Meme_ **   
**_I agree with Shiro, Aurora_ **   
**_*le sigh* I also have homework tho. Idk if I should go._ **

It's TristEN not TristAN  
EVERYONE. IS. GOING. PERIOD.   
ITS FOR CHARITY!!!!!

SarAHHHHHHHHH  
I guess we'll have to wait and see 😂😂😂

_Keith has changed the group name to YOU CANT MAKE ME GO TO THE PARTY_

When Hunk came home after class, Jeremy was with him and so the three of us discussed the party. "It should be fun right?" Jeremy said sitting down on my bed. Hunk shrugs.

"I don't know. Everyone's always so drunk. I have to pay like five dollars to get in." Hunk shook his head. "It's not that appealing to me."

"Free alcohol is!" I argued I knew I had been saying I shouldn't go to parties or be drinking because I might loose my athletic scholarship but.... Midterms were coming up and I wanted to get _fucked up_. I hadn't gone to a party in a year! A frat/sorority party that is.

"It's not free if you pay five dollars." Hunk pointed out. I sigh.

"Well if you finish your homework you'll come right?" I asked him. "It'll be fun!"

"I'm with Lance buddy. I think it'll be nice to just drink alcohol and forget about school." Jeremy and I high-five. Hunk shakes his head at us and looks up towards the ceiling.

"Why'd I have to pick these guys to be my friends?" He asks god or maybe himself.

"God can't help you now dude. You're in our territory. Just say you'll think about it at least." I instructed. Hunk sighed.

"I'll think about it." Jeremy and I grinned at each other. We were already halfway to convincing him.

* * *

"We could find you a boyfriend Keith! Come on it'll be funnnnn." Tristen said, dragging out the word fun. Keith blushed a little as he finished off the eggs I had left for him on my plate. Keith has gotten better at eating breakfast with us in the morning. He'll actually get up and use his meal plan and if I don't finish whatever's on my plate, he'll eat that too.

"I don't need a boyfriend and I'm not a partying kind of guy."

"You partied with us." Aurora argued.

"That was in a safe, enclosed environment." Keith said, pointing his fork at her. "A frat party is going to be insane. There's going to be so many people. So many drunk and high people and I'm not going to like it." Aurora rolled her eyes.

"I thought so too but if you get high before you go and then get a little buzzed, it's not so bad. Don't you want to get high again Keith?" She asks him.

"Not particularly." He says with a shrug.

"Come on man, we already convinced Hunk and Pidge to come with us. You're the only one left that's holding out." Jeremy said.

"The party's tomorrow buddy. You _have_ to come." I said clasping my hands together in a begging motion and giving him my best _puppy dog eyes_ look. Keith just stared at me with a bored expression.

"You don't even like your roommate." Aurora reminded him. "You're saying you don't want to get away from him for the night?" Keith frowned, he did hate his roommate. Keith said he smelled, and had weird habits and never closed the bathroom door when he was using it.

"I'll think about it." Keith said finally. Jeremy and I first bumped, while Aurora high-fived Tristen.

"Don't worry, I'll get him to say yes by the end of the day." I spoke up, making Aurora snicker.

"Oh yeah and how are you going to do that?"

"The power of persuasion my friend." I said, flashing her a smile. Aurora and Tristen giggled a little and I heard Keith clear his throat. He was rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly and his cheeks were a little pink. Was it warm in here? Had I said something weird?

* * *

Eventually, it was Aurora who convinced Keith to go. I don't know how. I think she made all the same arguments I did. I guess he just listened to her better than me or maybe Aurora is just harder to argue with. At any rate, we were at the party.

Hunk, Shiro, Jeremy and Matt were going to hangout together for most of the night. Sarah had convinced Pidge to get at least a little buzzed. And Allura and Tristen were already pretty drunk, with Aurora catching up to them. That just left Keith and I as the only _real_ sober people in the group, seeing as everyone else was drinking some sort of alcoholic beverage.

"Come on Keithhhhh!" Aurora begged, slightly tipsy from the amount of vodka in her blood stream. "Dance with us please!"

"Uhh..." Keith said nervously as she tugged on his arm. "Won't your boyfriend get jealous or something?" He asked, looking towards the rest of our friends. I wanted to ask him _jealous of what_. Everyone knows he doesn't like girls. So why would Jeremy get jealous? Wait, was Keith blushing?? How cute. Aurora giggles again.

"No. He knows where my loyalties lie." As if on cue, Jeremy looked our way and Aurora blew him a kiss. Like the sappy ass couple they are, Jeremy "caught" the kiss and put it in his pocket, making Aurora laugh. "And, you're gay. Now come dance with with us."

"Lance.." Keith complained, clearly distressed and wanting me to get him out of this situation.

"Yeah come on buddy, let's go." I said, taking his other hand. Together, Aurora and I dragged Keith to the dance floor where Pidge, Sarah, Tristen and Allura waited. They cheered upon our arrival and as I slowly slipped into a dancing rhythm, I laughed at how awkward Keith looked and probably felt. "Loosen up dude. It's just dancing." I told him, having to get closer to him so he could hear me over the music.

"I don't dance." He replied as Tristen grabbed his hands and tried to get him to move. She had Keith spin her around before trying to get him to at least move his feet to the beat but Keith remained planted to the ground.

"You need more alcohol!" Tristen shouted at him, her cheeks red from her own buzz. "Who wants to get this boy some tequila!" She exclaims. Allura and Sarah cheer and dance off in the direction of the alcohol. Aurora moves toward Keith and whispers something in his ear. I think I see Keith blush as Aurora winks at him. Or maybe she just blinked. I couldn't see her other eye after all.

"You gotta move Keith. You look weird." I tell him as the three of us continue to dance together.

"I don't know how." He complained.

"Tristen tried showing you but you're too stubborn." Keith frowned and crossed his arms, looking away from me. "Would you rather dance with a guy instead?" His cheeks immediately heated up. "Come on, dance with me."

"I- I don't think gender matters." Keith stutters out. "I don't know how to dance is all." He looks around us a little wildly. Aurora has disappeared. Maybe she's gone to get Matt so they can go get high somewhere. She doesn't like getting hangovers.

"Dance with me." I insist. "You just have to feel the music Keith! Come on, how would you dance if this was a rock concert?" He starts to think on it a little but makes a face at me.

"I don't know! I can't think straight with all this EDM." He shakes his head, dark hair flying. "I don't even know what song would make me want to dance." Suddenly, the beat begins to change. The song is loosing its touch of EDM. The bass gets louder and people begin to cheer, as if recognizing the first couple of chords blasting through the speakers. "No." Keith says in slight amazement, perking up to the change of song. Suddenly, it hit me that I recognized it too.

"Oh! Well imagine!" Everyone began to shout at the top of their lungs. Keith started jumping up and down excitedly. "As I'm pacing the pews in this church corridor! And I can't help but to hear. No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words." Keith is moving to the music and I'm amazed by the sudden change in attitude. All he's really doing is shouting and moving his arms but I'll take it. I begin to sing with him.

"What a beautiful wedding! What a beautiful wedding, says a bridesmaid to the waiter. And, yes, but what a shame, what a shame the poor groom's bride is a.." the word gets dropped but everyone in the room screams it anyways. "WHORE!" Keith throws his arms in the air and miraculously, begins to jump up and down and bob his head to the music as it continues.

"I chime in with a, haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?! No, it's much better to face these kinds of things, with a sense of poise and rationality. I chime in, haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door!" I've never seen Keith so excited before.

"I can't believe they're playing this!" He finally shouts in my ear.

"I'm glad they are! You do know how to dance idiot. You just needed to stop being nervous." Keith smiles a little. The chorus starts up again and Keith and I go back to shouting the lyrics and dancing with everyone else in the room.

* * *

And somewhere, off in a corner, the _Bad Girls Club_ meets. Tristen, Sarah, Aurora and Allura all smile to themselves. "How'd you get them to play the song?" Allura asks Tristen

"Showing a little skin gets you a long way." She replies with a wink. The girls laugh.

"Well, mission accomplished girls." Aurora says triumphantly, holding up her shot to the other girls. Lance and Keith are dancing together and they look like they're having fun.

"Let's hope they actually admit they like each other after this." Sarah shouts over the music. The boys are laughing, and smiling wider than any of them have ever seen before.

"To _young fucking_ love." Aurora toasts. The five girls hit their plastic cups together and down the shots.


	32. Winter Is Coming

_Playlist: I Miss You -Clean Bandit_

**_After_ **

"Can you stop complaining and actually study with me Lance." Keith said rolling his eyes at me.

"But I succckkkk at history. All those dates and all those wars what's the point?"

"So history doesn't repeat itself Lance. Now come on. When was the War of 1812." I sat up on his bed and gave him a funny look. Keith was grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you shitting me?" I asked. Keith shrugged.

"Just making sure you're paying attention." I flopped back down onto his pillows as Keith uncapped his highlighter with his teeth like an animal and highlighted something in his notes. He recapped the pen and looked over at me again. "Can you not have your shoes on my bed. You should be happy I'm actually letting you lay on it. Don't mess it up." The reason we were in Keith's dorm and not Hunk and i's was because HUNK WAS HAVING A GIRL OVER.

Just kidding.

But him and Pidge were regurgitating a bunch of science things I couldn't keep up with from one of their shared Gen Ed classes and so Keith suggested we go to his dorm. His weird roommate would be gone virtually all day. Apparently he study's in the library with his friends a lot. "Sorry dude." I said, sitting up. "Let's go over your notecards again." I told him a bit grumpily.

"Good because if you fail, I'm going to laugh." I flipped him off but Keith just smiled. We ended up studying for another two hours or so before I felt like my brain was fried and Keith had almost snapped his pencil in two at a stupid pun I made. Thankfully, Hunk called me before Keith and I could get in an argument about how dumb I was.

"Hey Hunk! You're on speaker." I told him, answering the phone. Keith took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Hey guys. Pidge and I are done studying if you want to head over and play some mind numbing video games."

"Thank god." Keith groaned. "Lance was driving me insane." Hunk laughed.

"No I wasn't. He's over exaggerating." I said shaking my head. "But yeah we'll be over there in a few." We said goodbye and hung up. Keith closed his notebook and our textbook loudly before standing up and stretching out his back and arms. It always surprised me to see that he actually had muscles underneath his bulky leather jacket. He was only wearing dark jeans and a black shirt right now so I was able to see his arms for once. He didn't have muscles like Shiro but they were still pretty nice.

"Do you think Pidge will go easy on us for once." I scoffed as Keith grabbed his keys and I picked my backpack up off the ground.

"I've known her for almost two years now and I've never won a game against her."

"Maybe you just suck." Keith teased.

"Hey you've never won either!" I said. Keith snickered as the two of us exited his room. On Monday we would start finals week an then I'll finally be able to go home for a month. I was really excited to see my family again. I really missed them but I was also really going to miss all of my friends once I did go back home. I was already planning on meeting up with Aurora and Jeremy at some point and I was talking with everyone else (Shiro, Pidge, Keith, etc.) about going up to meet them for a weekend instead of them all having to come to me like they did last year. Hunk said I could sleepover at his house which sounds really exciting to me.

"Earth to Lance." Keith said, nudging me. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Sorry buddy repeat that." I said with a smile. He rolled his eyes lightly but began to tell me again about how we should prepare for the essay for our test later. "Yeah, sounds good." I said, throwing my arm around him. "You'll let me cheat off you during the final though right?" He shook his shoulders and I let go.

"Not on your life McClain." I smiled

* * *

Before we all left for Christmas break, I gave everyone their presents. Shiro's and Allura's were a joint thing. I got them T-shirt's that said Space Dad™ and Space Mom™. I was really hoping they would like them. I got Hunk and Jeremy these really cool space themed cookbooks. Hunk admitted to me once that he actually has a collection of cookbooks so I'm hoping the one I bought him isn't in his arsenal and Jeremy kind of hates cookbooks so I kind of got him one to be funny. I hope he still likes it though.

Aurora and Pidge were easy to buy something for. They're always reading so I just got them each Barnes and Noble gift cards. I thought about buying them books but I wasn't sure if they'd like what I would buy for them. I bought Sarah a poster for her wall and Tristen some cool makeup brushes I think she would like and I bought Matt these test tube shot glasses I thought were amazing. The only person I had trouble buying a gift for was Keith.

The Biggest Nerds In the Galaxy

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _MERRY FUCKIN CHRISTMAS_

Space Dad™  
Language Pidge

**_An Actual Meme_ **   
**_HAPPY FUCKIN HOLIDAYS_ **

_ Princess  _ 👑   
_ I like that one better _

My Fav Emo 😎  
It is more inclusive

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Sorry. I got too excited_ 😅

**Lancey-Lance**   
**No worries Pidgey! Did y'all open my presents yet?**

Hunkster   
I did and dude, you legit made me cry

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _You're playing a dangerous game McClain._  
 _You know how much I love to fuckin read._  
 _The next time I step in a Barnes and noble I'm gonna want to buy everything._  
 _Screw you_

 **Lancey-Lance**  
 **You're welcome Pidge** 😊

_ Princess  _ 👑   
_ And the shirts were adorable Lance. Thank you for getting them for us _

Space Dad™  
We're actually wearing them right now.   
Moms a little confused but thinks it's cute.

 ** _An Actual Meme_**  
 ** _AND NEXT YEAR WERE FUCKIN USING THESE SHOT GLASSES._**  
 ** _LANCE THEYRE SO COOL. I LOVE THEM_** 😭😭

**Lancey-Lance**   
**I'm glad everyone loves their presents!!**

My Fav Emo 😎  
Yea thanks Lance

It was Christmas Day so maybe this was a stupid thing to be upset over but... I really needed to know if Keith liked my present. I had already FaceTimed Hunk and asked him what he thought. "Maybe Keith hated it and he's just being nice!" I exclaimed. "Should I get him something else? I don't even know what he really likes." I had complained, mostly to myself.

"I'm sure he loved it Lance. You're just being paranoid. Just call him or something. You can't tell what a person means through text." Hunk had thanked me again for my gift and laughed when I showed him I was wearing the shirt he got me. It was something he got off a website. The shirt read, _Bi Bi Bi_. I always read it to the tune of that *NSYNC song. I had already came out to my family this last thanksgiving and none of them were phased. Half of my siblings said they already knew so.. Go figure.

I didn't call Keith. Not right away. I first talked to Pidge and Matt. Well, I FaceTimed Pidge but Matt was there too so I talked to the both of them, even said hi to their parents. Pidge also thought I was being paranoid. "He's not like Hunk dude. He's not going to say your gift made him cry."

"Yeah well he could've said more than, _yea thanks Lance_. I mean that almost sounds sarcastic." I argued.

"Why do you care so much Lance?" Matt asked with a smirk. "Do you _like_ him?" He teased.

"No! Well, yes but not in the way you're suggesting." I stammered out. "We're friends and I want him to like my gift. If he doesn't then I should get him something else!" Pidge and Matt looked at each other and a mental message passed between them that I couldn't decipher.

"Well anyways, you should just FaceTime him and ask. It's not a big deal. How do you like our gift?"

"I haven't played it yet because my siblings, nephews and cousins are monsters and I'll never be able to get to a turn but.. Thank you. Ever since my first copy of _Dead Runner_ crapped out I haven't felt the same since." I exaggerated, pretending to cry a little and making them laugh. _Dead Runner_ was an old video game but also one of my favorites growing up. My first disc was so scratched up from so many plays that it no longer worked and it nearly broke my heart.

"You're welcome now... Call Keith and merry Christmas Lance." Pidge says with a smile.

"Merry Christmas!" I say back happily before we say goodbye and hang up. I twirl my phone in my hands nervously. This should be no big deal. It's just Keith. Why was I so nervous?? Maybe because I hadn't really talked to him since finals week? Keith and I don't really text. I don't know what to say to him but I felt kind of bad for not talking to him especially since I texted his brother and Allura on several occasions. I exhale heavily and hit FaceTime on Keith's contact name. He answered after five rings.

"Hey Keith!" He frowned a little, pushing his hair out of his face as he stared at me quizzically. Was he in his room? I couldn't tell. It looked like he was laying down though or at least leaning against some pillows.

"Why'd you FaceTime me?" I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.

"I'm FaceTiming everyone! I just got off with Pidge."

"Why was I your second option."

"Technically you were third... Or fourth I guess since Matt and Pidge were in the same room and Hunk was first so..." I shrugged a little.

"Well do you want me to go get Shiro? He's just.." the screen started to move so I assumed he was getting up.

"No! Keith." He put the phone back up to his face. "I want to just talk to you right now." Fuck. Lance. Your gay is showing. He cleared his throat awkwardly and sat down on the couch again. He was in the living room of his house. I could tell that much now.

"Alright. What's up?" He asked. God this was so stupid and so needy.

"I was just wondering if you liked my present or not. You didn't really.. Say anything in the group chat." I admitted running a hand through my own hair anxiously. "If you don't like it I can get you something else." I offered.

"Is that it?" He asks with a slight smirk. "Lance, I love it. Look." Keith held his phone out more and there around his neck was the lame necklace I got him. It was a silver chain with a lions head. Well, at least I thought it was a lions head. It kind of looked like the robot version of a lions head. I thought it looked cool. "I don't really wear jewelry." Keith said, moving his phone back up so I could see his face properly. "But I'll wear this. It's cool." His smile is so soft it makes my heart melt a little and I nearly blush. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

"Dude I told you to stop apologizing for that. We just barely became friends! It's all cool. I don't need anything." Keith rolls his eyes.

"I'm just going to ask Hunk what you like Lance." I laugh. "So you might as well tell me if there's something you want."

"I'm fine Keith. The only thing I want... Is for you to cut your mullet." I say with a smirk. He reaches back with his other hand to touch his hair.

"Really? I'll do it if you hate it that much. My moms always telling me my hair is too long anyways. I was thinking about getting an undercut." If I had been drinking water, I would have done a spit-take. Keith?? With an undercut???? What. The. Actual. Fuck. If he got an undercut I would literally not be able to stop myself from kissing him every time I saw him.

"No! Keith! I'm kidding I love your hair it's cool!" _Fuck! Why don't you profess your undying love while you're at it Lance! Jeez_.. Keith blushes. Fuck. "I just tease you because I think it's funny how upset you get." I say trying to turn this conversation back around. "You don't have to cut you hair just because I'm an asshole."

"Yeah but if you said you'd stop being a dick if I cut my hair I'd probably do it." The two of us laughed.

"Keith! Dare to hanashite iru no?" I heard someone shout.

"Tomodachi no o bāchan." Keith replied. I always forget that him and Shiro know Japanese. I don't think I've ever heard Keith speak it though.

"Ā, kare wa kawaīdesu Keith." The voice continued as a women appeared next to Keith on screen. She had dark hair, grey streaks running from root to tip in a really elegant way. She looked kind and respectable and was probably Keith's grandmother if I wasn't mistaken. "Tsukiatteru hito imasu ka?" Keith looked at her startled.

"O bāchan! Īe!" He said indignantly, making her laugh. I smiled a little.

"Keith, don't be rude. Introduce me." I said. Keith sighed as the women laughed. I'm guessing she could understand me.

"Lance this is my grandma. Grandma this is my friend Lance from college." Keith said gesturing to the screen. I waved.

"Hello Lance from college." She greeted in a thick accent. "You look like a very nice boy."

"Why thank you. Keith doesn't really think I'm all that nice though." I said with a smile. I could tell Keith wanted to flip me off or something but he refrained from doing so while his grandmother was there.

"O bāchan." Keith groaned. "Anata wa watashi o tōwaku sa sete imasu."

"Īe, watashi wa anata no kawaī tomodachi to hanashite imasu." She said before hitting Keith's shoulder lightly. "Shikashi, mā, watashi wa anata no okāsan o tasukeru koto ni modorudeshou." She leans in and kisses his forehead before looking towards me. "It was very nice to meet you Lance."

"It was nice to meet you to!" I say with a wave and a broad smile. She disappears from the screen and for a couple seconds afterward Keith just gives me this _look_. "What?" I finally ask, unable to stop myself from grinning.

"You're the worst." He says.

"Yeah but.. you love me."

"Debatable." Keith grumbles under his breath.

"Hey." A familiar voice speaks up. "Grandma said you were talking to Lance." Shiro sits down next to his brother.

"How dare you not tell us Kieth." Allura continues. Sitting on his other side.

"Hi guys!" I say excitedly. I'm glad I got to talk to Keith for a little bit but I'm also really glad Allura and Shiro came over when they did before I got too awkward with Keith. I don't know what's wrong with me. Why can't I just have a normal conversation with him? Oh well, I'm sure we'll get closer eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rough translation of the conversation  
> G: "Keith! who are you talking to?"  
> K: "A friend Grandma."  
> G: "Oh he's cute. Are you two dating?"  
> K: "Grandma! No!" "Grandma. You're embarrassing me."  
> G: "No I'm talking to your cute friend. But fine, I will go back to helping your mother.


	33. One of Many

_Playlist: Need You Now- Lady Antebellum_

**_After_ **

I woke up with a burning, itching feeling at the back of my throat. My throat felt incredibly dry, like I needed water. Groggily, I got up out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, switching on the light before I started to cough, feeling like I was about to hack up a lung. Eventually, something did come up and out of my throat and I spit it out into the sink. I expected to see something gross. Maybe I was getting a little sick, but when I opened my eyes, I found something in the sink that I least expected.

Sitting in a small pool of blood was a purple flower petal. Mesmerized, I rubbed at my tired eyes but the petal remained in the sink. What? A flower petal? How could I cough up a flower petal? I didn't eat a flower... Right? What the hell was happening. I slowly reached down into the sink and picked it up. I rubbed the petal between my fingers. It felt smooth and velvety. It felt real.

But that's insane. This wasn't a flower petal. This wasn't real. Shaking my head, I threw the petal into the trash, washed the blood off the sink and then splashed some water on my face. I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming. I just had to go back to sleep. I stumbled back into my room and collapsed onto my bed. As I did though, I caught sight of my digital clock. It was 2:14. Hadn't I read somewhere that you supposedly can't tell time in dreams? The clock always changes? I close my eyes, squeeze them shut. When I open them though, the time remains at 2:14. This is not a dream.

* * *

"¡Feliz año nuevo!" My family shouted as the ball dropped in New York City and confetti rained down on the screen. I watched as my family members kissed their significant others. My younger cousins teasingly licked each other's face, making each other scream. People were throwing confetti and blowing on noise makers and it was making me laugh as everyone brought their champagne glasses, plastic cups, and ceramic mugs to their lips. We didn't have enough of the same cups to toast with but it didn't really matter, every cup was filled with either alcohol or apple cider. Everyone of age was slightly drunk but, that's to be excepted. It is New Years after all. Jocelyne came over and kissed my cheek.

"Happy New Year baby brother." She told me. I nodded and finished off my apple cider as Felix and Sergio came my way.

"Hey little bro!" They shouted in unison.

"Don't tell Mom." Felix said with a grin and a wink, switching out my plastic cup for another one. I could smell the alcohol in it and grinned.

"Tell Mom what?" Sergio clapped me on the back and I laughed, watching my twin brothers push off into the crowd to get to our nephews and nieces. I felt someone put their arm around me.

"Hey Lancey how are you?" A drunk Dante asks. I shake him off and he laughs. "Ah don't be like that. It's New Years! I bet you wish you were with your boyfriend Keithhhh." He slurs out. I snort.

"Keith's not my boyfriend."

"Then why do you talk about him so fondly." He's grinning like mad and I punched him in the shoulder.

"I don't talk about him fondly." I argue but now I feel like I've been caught. I wanted to FaceTime my friends again, like I did on Christmas, and Keith was first on my list. "You're drunk."

"Maybe!" He shouts. "But you're the one in loooove." He shoves my shoulder lightly and I roll my eyes as he walks away. I don't know what he's talking about. I chug the alcohol down. It's not that much. Sergio and Felix weren't feeling that generous but after not eating for a while, the alcohol went straight to my head and bladder. After kissing the cheeks of a few of my cousins and my mom and dad, I head to my room to call my friends. I need to call Keith first though before I loose my nerve.

Sitting in my room, my thumb hovers over the button to FaceTime him. The picture I have as his contact, is one I took of the two of us, a selfie. I had caught Keith completely by surprise by throwing his arm around him and saying, "Smile Keith!" He had looked towards my phone, confused when I took the picture. He was pissed at me afterwards for catching him by surprise but didn't think it was a bad picture so I kept it, even posted it on my Instagram after Keith said I could. I took a deep breath and hit call, hoping he would answer. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Keith! Happy New Years." I said a bit too excitedly as he answered the phone. Keith laughed, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he moved farther away from some rather loud music and the sounds of a rather drunk Allura.

"Hey Lance, Happy New Years. You FaceTiming everyone again?" I nodded but I was lying. I'm only going to call him, Hunk, Pidge and Aurora but I had started with Keith first because... I just wanted to see him. It felt like it hadn't seen him in a really long time. "What number am I this time?" He asked with a grin.

"Second." I said with a smile. I lied again because if I admitted he was first... That was basically like confessing that I had a small crush on him. "Kiss anyone cute tonight Kogane?" Keith chuckles, shaking his head.

"No. The only people here are Shiro, Allura, Coran and my mom."

"You didn't kiss your mom? Shame on you Keith. I'm sure your mom is very cute." He laughs again and I smile at the expression on his face, how cute.

"Of course I kissed my mom dumbass. What about you? Just family hanging around?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely at a a killer frat party right now. Beefy football players and beautiful girls everywhere." Keith smirks.

"And you took the time to call me? Should I feel special?" Fuck. This boy was gonna make me blush. I could just blame it on the alcohol though.

"Not really buddy. You are second after all."

"First the worst, second the best." I laughed.

"I'll tell Aurora you said that." Keith grinned.

"Go ahead she'll agree with me." Which is probably true. Keith and Aurora were actually pretty good friends now. Keith seemed to be leaning towards becoming an English teacher too, like Aurora. At least, she had convinced him to take a creative writing class with her. It was going to knock out his GE for English anyways so he signed up. Keith seemed pretty excited to take the class with her though so we'll see how it goes.

I started to cough and I panicked. It has been a couple days since I coughed up that flower petal. It hadn't happened since but... Every now and then, I got this weird itch in my throat that made me want to cough. When I did try to alleviate the burn it felt like something was trying to work its way up my throat again but so far, no more flower petals. Keith looked at me with concern. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think it's just a cold." I lied. "It's the weather. Too damp." He smiled softly.

"Well, hang in there. We'll be in warmer weather soon." I nodded back, touched by his concern.

"Lance!" Someone shouted, barging into my room. Dante stood in the doorway. He was grinning like mad, like he knew who I was on the phone with. "Deja de hablar con tu novio!" He crowed. "Mamá está preguntando por ti." I flipped him off. I was glad he was sober enough to tease me in Spanish, not English.

"Keith no es mi novio!" I shouted back at him. He started to make kissy noises at me and I refrained from throwing something at him "¡Cállate y sal de mi habitación, Dante!"

"Lo que sea que digas hermanito. Mamá está preguntando por ti." He says, singing out the last couple of words. I sigh and shake my head at him. Keith is eyeing me quizzically as Dante closes my bedroom door and leaves me alone.

"You said my name?" Keith asked. I nodded.

"I told him I was just talking to a friend and to leave me alone." Keith nods and I'm glad he can't understand Spanish.

"If you have to go Lance, it's fine." I shake my head.

"Naw, not really. He said my mom's asking for me but it's fine. She won't mind if I'm talking to my friends." He smiles.

"Well uh.. want me to go get Shiro and Allura? I'm sure she'll be excited to see you." I nod my head slowly.

"Yeah, sure Kieth." He heads back into the living room, calling for Allura and Shiro.

"I have Lance on the phone again." He explains. I hear Allura gasp loudly and Keith's phone is torn from his hand. Allura, her hair up in a messy bun and a wide smile on her face shouts my name at the scream and I swear the sound nearly makes me deaf.

"Allura!" I shout back. "Hi, you look very drunk." She jut laughs as Shiro takes the phone from her.

"Yeah She is. We weren't paying attention to how much wine she drank."

"Nothing to fear Shiro." I hear Coran say in the background. "I've had to deal with her drunk mother on several occasions. Allura acts just like she did back when we were all in college together." I laugh as I hear Coran say this, imagining him taking care of his drunk friends.

"How are you Lance? Kiss anyone _special_?" Allura says, giggling against Shiro's arm.

"Allura." I hear Keith say indignantly.

"Nope! Just my family around. Though if Shiro was here I would've stolen him from you." Allura laughs again as Shiro goes red.

"Are you sure about that? You know there's another K-" Shiro puts his hand over her mouth and the camera gets shaky as I assume, he hands the phone back to Keith. He appears on screen again with a heavy sigh.

"She's so drunk." He says. I laugh.

"What was she going to say? There's another what?" I asked. Keith shrugs.

"I don't know." I stare at him for a couple of seconds, noticing he's wearing the necklace I gave him. I smile.

"Well Uhh, I should call the others and then see what my mom wants." Keith nods. "I'll see you soon buddy."

"Yeah, text me." Keith says which surprises me a little.

"Yeah, I will. Talk to you later then. Bye."

"Goodbye Lance." I end the call about two seconds later, unable to stop myself from staring at him. As soon as I hang up, that burning itching feeling overwhelms me again. Coughing hard, my chest contracting in pain, I head to the bathroom. This time when I cough though, it's not just one flower petal that comes up but three. I grip the porcelain sink tightly, tasting blood in my mouth. This can't be real. This can't be real. This can't be real.

But it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know in this fic that Shiro and Keith are brothers and technically Shiro's name is Takashi Shirogane But for the sake of the fic.. it's Takashi Shirogane Kogane. Which sounds so nice when you say it out loud tbh. That's why I have Lance refer to Keith as Kogane sometimes. I made the mistake once of saying that Keith and Shiro's last name was Takashi and then someone pointed out to me that that was not Shiro's last name and I just 😂😂 I should've known that??? I'm so dumb when I write sometimes. Wow.


	34. Not Just A Dream

_Playlist: Somebody Else - The 1975_

**_After_ **

The first thing I did when I got to my dorm was hug Hunk. "Oph. Hey buddy." He said as I startled him with my presence, slamming into his chest. My parents laughed at me but I didn't care. I missed Hunk. I missed all of my friends. I couldn't wait to see them.

"I missed you my friend." I tell him as I finally let go. "I've been so bored all break."

"He was practically climbing the walls he had so much energy." My Mom said as she set my backpack down on my bed.

"Momma." I groaned as Hunk laughed. I tried to clear my throat as I felt that gnawing itch and my mom touched my shoulder lightly.

"I told you we should have gone to the doctors about that cough." My Mom scolds. I shrug sheepishly, trying to smile.

"It's just a cough. You gave me a bunch of medicine, I'll be fine."

"You better be." Hunk interjects. "I don't want to catch whatever you have." I laugh, as does my parents. The truth is, I don't think Hunk can catch this sickness, or this disease whatever. I finally worked the nerve up to check out my symptoms online (even though most of the time, WEB MD is bullshit but, then again, this whole coughing up flowers thing is bullshit). And the results I found were... Almost nonexistent. The only thing I was able to really find that sounded concrete was a stupid wiki page for something called the Hanahaki Disease. I read the beginning lines so many times, that they're basically seared into my brain.

_The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from a one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals or flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. If the love is not returned, the flowers continue to grow inside the infected's lungs until the infected dies._

In Japanese, _hana_ apparently means "flower", and _hakimasu_ means "to throw up". I hadn't started throwing up flowers yet but I think that's beside the point. The real question is, who the hell did I fall in love with? The website said it had to be romantic love and for the life of me, I couldn't pinpoint anyone I had fallen in love with. (Does my crush on Keith count? I don't think it counts. But then again, I've never been in love before, I have a lot of love but I don't know what being _in Love_ feels like.)

But you know the real kicker, The Hanahaki Disease, as far as I could tell, is fictional. It only exists in fanfiction and movies and other fictional places. Nobody should _actually_ die from this stupid thing. I kind of thought I was crazy. Maybe I was loosing my mind. Maybe I wasn't actually coughing up flower petals. According to wiki, I was on the early stages of the disease. I hadn't even coughed up a full blown flower yet, but the number of purple petals kept increasing.

I hadn't told my family about the petals, obviously but I felt like I could tell Hunk maybe, if this kept getting worse. My parents were getting ready to leave and I was hugging them goodbye, coughing into my sleeve as I pulled out of my hug with my mom. She touched my face delicately. "Don't overwork yourself Lance." She murmured. I nodded, pulling her hand from my face and kissing her knuckles.

"I'm be fine mamma." Hunk and I walk my parents down to the parking lot where we wave goodbye to them as they get in their car. I end up coughing up another flower petal or two into my hand when I think Hunk isn't paying attention.

"That's one bad cough dude." He tells me as we walk back to our room. "I swear to god I'll hurt you if you get me sick." He was with a smile. I laugh, my throat becoming agitated by the action.

"Trust me my friend, you won't catch what I have."

* * *

"Guess who?" I said, putting my hands over Keith's eyes and trying to alter my voice so he wouldn't be able to tell it was me. I felt his back stiffen against me as the two of us paused in the hallway, other students streaming past us. His body relaxed a little and Keith grabbed my hands, pulling them down.

"Lance." He said with a slight smirk before glancing back at me. Damnit, that was cute.

"Awww you recognized me!" I teased, wrapping my arms around his shoulders in a hug. "How are you doing buddy?" I asked, only slightly loosening my grip on him so my face wouldn't be so close to his anymore. If he kept looking at me like that...

"I'm heading to class and you're going to make me late _McClain_." Keith said trying to detach himself from me.

"I think we're going the same way so far." I said, tightening my grip on his shoulders and dragging my feet as he tried to walk away. He nearly stumbled under my weight so I righted myself again so we wouldn't fall over. "I saw you from down the hallway."

"How'd you know it was me?" Keith asked with a slight smile.

"The Mullet." I said, ruffling his hair. He laughs.

"Dude, you're so warm. Do you have a fever?" Keith asks me, shaking his shoulders so I'll let go of him. I shrugged as I dropped my arms. I had felt unnaturally warm last night but I wasn't sure why. I thought I was just imagining it.

"I don't think so. Maybe I'm just naturally warm." His hand comes up to touch my forehead, much to my surprise, and I have to fight the urge to blush.

"You kind of feel like you have a fever."

"I guess Monday's make me sick." I say as the two of us head down the hall together. "Or maybe the first day back to school makes me sick!" Keith chuckled.

"You're an idiot. What class are you going to?"

"This psych class. It's part of the Gen Ed." Keith took a deep breath.

"Psych 115?" He asked.

"No way! Do you have that class?" I asked. Keith said nothing, just shook his head at me, a small smile on his lips. "Awesome!" I exclaim. "Kogane and McClain! The dynamic duo, a perfect team, the..."

"Alright, Alright Lance." Keith said elbowing me in the ribs. "I'm surprised you put my last name first. Did you forget how big of an ego you have?" He asks.

"No, K is before M in the alphabet dummy. Though, McClain and Kogane sounds really nice too."

"Let's stick to the first one." Keith said with a grin.

"You got it my man." I said, finger-gunning at him. He sighed, opening the classroom door for us. "Such a gentleman."

"Oh shut up McClain."

* * *

"Alright everyone. I want you to think of a person you hate." Were the first words out of our teachers mouth the moment class started. I smirked a little as I nudged Keith next to me. He snickered under his breath as he caught my gaze. I didn't hate Keith but we weren't always this chummy.

"Do you two hate each other?" Mrs. Sitchen asks us. I look up at her startled. Had she noticed how I hit Keith?

"Yeah." I admit with a shrug, but before I could say _but not anymore_ , our teacher says.

"Well, psychologically speaking, the reasons you hate someone is because you see a bad habit or a feature or a characteristic in them that _you_ also have in yourself and that is what makes you dislike someone." What did Keith and I have in common?

"You always wear the same jacket." Keith says with a grin. I frown at him and punch his arm.

"So do you!" I argue, making him laugh.

"Are you two together?" Mrs. Sitchen suddenly asks.

"Wh-what?" I stammer out.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you not? The body language I was reading.." she stops, seeing how embarrassed Keith and I are. "Well, it doesn't matter. I apologize." She immediately turned the conversation around and asked people for other examples of people thy hate and why they might feel that way. Keith and I sat awkwardly next to each other for the rest of class, barely saying anything to one another.

"Well... Uh..." I finally managed to stammer out as we gathered our things together. It was the first week back, all of our teachers were letting us out early today. "Mrs. Sitchen I mean.. Wow that was... Weird."

"Yeah? Body language? I mean she's not a... That's a weird way to say..." Keith stooped again. "I'm sure she was just making a joke." He suggested with a shrug.

"Of course. mean, I don't _hate_ you Keith but we're also not _that_ close." Keith nodded, shouldering his backpack.

"Yeah." He said without looking up at me. "Um what are you doing right now?" I started to cough into the sleeve of my jacket and Keith looked at me worriedly. I had to make a choice. I swallowed the petals as they tried to come up. It tasted like blood and grass and it made me want to drink water.

"Uh.." I said, trying to rework my brain to remember my schedule. Did I have another class? Could I go to lunch right now? "I have a Uhh.. Class. You?" I finally said, remembering I had another 50 minute class after this before I could go to lunch today.

"I was gonna go eat lunch." He pulls out his phone. "Aurora said she's got a three hour gap between her class now and her next one so she's gonna sit in the cafeteria." I nod. A lot of people did that to pass the time. If Aurora isn't in the cafeteria, she's usually in the library.

"Cool, tell her I'll see her when I get out of class." Keith nods as we head out of the room.

"I'll see you later then, I probably won't be in the cafeteria anymore once you get out of class."

"Alright dude, see you later." We first bump one another and head in opposite directions. Sheesh, Mrs. Sitchen what did you see that we didn't? Keith and I aren't even that close yet.

* * *

I have never been good at sitting still but it was even worse now that I had this stupid disease to worry about. All through class that first day, I tried to refrain from coughing up flower petals. I kept trying to clear my throat but it was so loud and disruptive, I didn't even want to do that either. It also made me anxious just knowing that they could come up at any moment so I tried to calm myself down by messing with the fidget cube Pidge gave me so long ago. (Has it really been over a year?)

When I was finally free to go to lunch, I found Aurora, Sarah, and Jeremy at our table. Jeremy and Sarah were talking and Aurora wasn't paying a lick of attention to them because she had her headphones in and seemed to be watching something on her computer. "Hey guys." I said as I walked up, smiling at how Aurora and Jeremy were still holding hands despite her being disconnected. I was about to slide into the booth next to Sarah when Aurora jumped up.

"Excuse me, I want a hug McClain." She said, pausing her show and pulling down her headphones. I grinned and set my backpack down before hugging her. "How's my beautiful best friend? Hunk and Keith told us you are sick." I shrug as we let go.

"It's not that bad, just a cough."

"And a fever." Sarah intervened. "Keith said you felt warm." She's grinning at me madly but I don't know why. Aurora also puts her hand to my forehead. Her skin is soft and cool. I begin to wonder if I am a little feverish.

"You are a little warm but.." Aurora shrugs. "I'm not a doctor so I don't know." We laugh and sit down.

"Talk to Matthew, our resident doctor." Jeremy jokes. I shrug, I might if I feel confident enough that Matt won't spill the beans to anyone else. I'm scared about what will happen if I tell an actual doctor or nurse. Will they laugh at me? Call me crazy? Send me to therapy? What if I actually showed them that I'm throwing up flowers? Would it appear in my x-rays? Or chest scans? Or whatever it is they use to look at your lungs? Would they want to pull them out? Use me as some sort of sick experiment? I just... Wasn't sure.

"Well, hopefully you get better soon dude because we have some sick ass party's to go to this year and you have to come." I opened my mouth to reply but Aurora kept going. "And no, I don't care that you're captain of the swim team. You should come anyways just for fun, okay?"

"I'll try." I said with a grin, preparing to get up to go get some food.

"There is no trying." Sarah scolded. "Only doing. Do you're going Lance." I laughed a little and shook my head at them as I headed to the counter. Parties were the last thing I had on my mind right now. All I could think about was how I might die, all because I love someone who doesn't love me back.


	35. Movie Dates

_Playlist: This Town - Niall Horan_

**_After_ **

"Hey Lance." Someone said, dropping down in front of me. I smiled up at Jeremy and pulled my headphones out of my ears. "You're up on campus late for once." He remarks, preparing to dig into his plate of spaghetti.

"I have a late class this semester. By late I mean six." I said with a shrug. There was still light outside, the sun was just barely setting but the class did get out around nine-thirty so I think that's pretty late.

"Nice. Is that every Wednesday then? Is this a three hour class?"

"You guessed it." I said with s smile, drinking the last of my water from my cup. "What about you? Just finish some soufflé class?" He smirked, swallowing his food before speaking again.

"There's no soufflé class Lance. That's just a baking class." I laughed. "And no this is more like soups 101." I rolled my eyes at him, wondering if he was being serious or not. "Man, I was hoping you wouldn't have shit to do tonight. Aurora is dragging me to the movies with her and her friends." I smirked.

"How is she dragging you? Why don't you just say you don't want to go?"

"Because I love her dude." He said with a roll of his eyes. I laughed. "But yeah, it's just going to be boring for me because whenever Aurora is surrounded by her friends, she pays less attention to me. Like, I'll talk to Tristen, Sarah, Pidge and them but like.." Jeremy shakes his head. "Aurora and I barely talk the whole night because she'll be talking to them. She hasn't seen any of her friends in a while."

"Does she mostly only have college friends?"

"Kind of. I mean, we both sort of have friends we hang out with over breaks in our hometown but... Aurora likes everyone here more than her high school friends. She has a lot of tension with everyone back home." I nod. I can understand that. "And anyways, she sees me like all the time so of course she'll want to talk to them more than me. We know like everything about one another."

"Awwww." I cry out. "How sweeeeettttt." Jeremy rolls his eyes at me and continues eating. "Ask Hunk Maybe. Or one of the other guys." Jeremy nods.

"You're right, why the hell were you my first option." He says with a grin.

"Because you loveeeee meee." Jeremy flips me off.

"Quite the opposite actually." I laugh and glance at the time on my phone.

"Oh shit, I should get going. I have kind of a long ways to walk to the Visual Arts Center."

"Oh, is it a film class you're taking?" Jeremy asked. I finger gunned at him before grabbing up my bag.

"You got it dude. I'll see you later Alright." Jeremy holds out his fist and I hit my own against it before grabbing up my empty cup and heading over to the dish rack.

"See ya." Jeremy calls out.

* * *

I twirled my pencil in my hands, trying not to jam out too hard to the music blasting through my headphones. I had left the cafeteria early enough to get to class thirty minutes before it started. There weren't many people in the room, just a few girls in a corner and some dude who looked like he was asleep up front. I wasn't really paying attention to them.

My long legs were stretched out on the table in front of me and sporadically, people would walk in. The classroom was slowly filling up but nobody caught my eye when they walked in. That is, until Keith appeared. Him, I noticed and I immediately started to cough upon seeing him. _Jesus Christ, not now_. He had stepped into the room looking a little anxious but once I started to cough, I gained his attention. I spit a flower petal into my hand and waved at him with my other. He started to walk towards me as I shoved the petal into my pocket.

"Keith! Buddy!" I said happily. "We have another class together." I took my legs off the table and gestured to the open seat next to me with the pen in my hand. Rolling his eyes, Keith set his backpack down and sat in the open seat next to me at this two person desk. He was wearing a hat on his head, some dark wash jeans and white shirt with his ever present leather jacket. I had just seen him this morning in our psych class and we decided to sit a little farther away from Mrs. Sitchen so we wouldn't get called on and embarrassed again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Your name wasn't on the roster for this class."

"So you checked if my name was there, aye?" Keith's cheeks flared pink as I said this.

"No!" He shouted, indignantly. "I was simply looking at the roster yesterday and there was no _Lance McClain_ on it." He grumbled, looking away from me.

"I transferred out of art yesterday in favor of this." I explained with a laugh. Keith's nose crinkled as he made a face at me.

"Why?"

"Because I suck at art. I don't know why I thought someone could teach me it." I replied with a shake of my head. Keith rolled his eyes at me again.

"You're hopeless."

"I know but hey, we got another class together! How exciting." Keith snorted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Yeah and it's three hours." He grumbled. "I'm only taking this class because it's once a week, it fit into my schedule with everything else I wanted to take, and Allura said the teacher was pretty cool."

"Sweet! Can't wait. I wonder if we'll be watching movies every class period." I said. "It's like three hours so we could do it." Keith shrugged.

"I don't know. All Allura said was that this teacher is cool." As if summoned, Mr. Burns walks in, a broad smile on his face and sets his briefcase down on the table up front.

"Good evening class." Everyone murmurs out some form of a greeting. "Let's get started alright?" Everyone begins to shuffle their things around, looking for notebooks and pens. Mr. Burns calls out roll as I watch Keith uncap his pen with his teeth and attach the top to the bottom of it.

"You gotta stop doing that." I tell him with a nudge.

"Bite me McClain." I laugh a little but it ends in a cough. Keith makes a face at me. After taking role, Mr. Burns starts to go over the syllabus and explains to us, that since this is a three hour class that meets only once a week, we're not going to have a midterm or any papers, just a final.

"And nearly every night, I have a movie prepared that we're going to watch and discuss." Throughout the classroom, wide grins spread across the students faces as they begin to excitedly whisper about what we might get to watch. "I know, I know. Y'all are probably expecting some superhero movies or things like Inception but we won't get to those style of movies until the end of the semester." Several people groan a little which makes him laugh.

"Black and white movies." Keith murmurs. "We're gonna watch a bunch of shit with actors that are no longer alive."

"It could be fun!" I said with a grin as Mr. Burns explained what kind of genres we'd be diving into and what kind of film devices and instruments we'd be learning about. "At least we get to watch movies."

"Sometimes movies make me fall asleep."

"I'll make sure you stay awake. I can't shut up during movies." Keith smirks.

"I know, I've noticed." It's not that I want to talk during the movie, just when something happens, I can't help but comment on it. It used to annoy the shit out of Pidge and Tristen but I think they've gotten used to it. They always make Aurora and I sit next to each other because the two of us always feel the need to talk. "Try to keep your trap shut when we're in this class alright?" He asks, hitting my shoulder lightly.

"No promises."

* * *

Keith and I walked back to the dorms together after class finished around eight. He kept us a little longer than most professors do the first day because he wanted to show us a couple of film clips he thought were important for us to see. Even though I had seen Keith just this morning, we talked a lot. Like a lot, _a lot_. I was glad conversation could flow more easily between us now. It was getting a little iffy back when we kid of hated each other.

"Hey we should bring snacks or popcorn for these movie dates." I said after I had made Keith laugh with one of my stupid jokes. I had been thinking about this film studies class the whole time we'd been talking. It was just kind of in the back of mind.

"Uh.. What?" Keith asked, eyeing me funny.

"For film class." I reiterated. "We should bring snacks to eat while we watch the movie! And blankets." Keith snorted, shaking his head at me.

"What's with you and blankets?"

"I get cold easily Kogane. We can't all be our own personal heater." I said sticking my tongue out at him. Keith laughed. I swear, Keith was always really warm. Was it because his jacket was so insulated? Was I just wearing really thin clothes all the time? What gives?

"Fine, bring blankets dumb ass."

"I will." I reply indignantly as we head inside our building and head for the elevators. I usually take the stairs because it's faster, I only live on the third floor, but Keith lives on the sixth so he always takes the elevator. He scans his ID so the elevator will let us in and the door dings open. As soon as we get in this confined space though, I can't help myself, I begin to cough. I had been holding back all night basically. I didn't like having to hide flower petals in my pockets or spit them out discreetly in tissues. The petals always tasted gross and were almost always coated in blood. Was the blood coming from my lungs? I didn't know.

"Dude are you okay? You need to get that cough checked out." Keith said as I felt the urge to bend over and hack up a lung.

"I'm good." I managed to croak out, my voice sounding stupid and strained. "I just need water." We get to the third floor and after a rushed goodbye, I run down the hallway and head to my room. I'm coughing loudly now, feeling like something is crawling up my throat. My hands shake as I try too insert my key into the lock. Hunk opens the door.

"You okay buddy?" He asks as I continue to cough and rush past him into the room. I drop all my shit down and lock myself in the bathroom where I finally manage to cough up the stupid petals sticking to the sides of my throat. But when I finally look in the sink, it's not some random flower petals sitting in the sink. It's a full-fledged flower. Stigma, petals, filament and all (Pidge helped me memorize the parts of a flower in biology). If it weren't covered in blood, I would think that it looked like I had just picked a flower. I throw it away in the trash can, hiding it under a crumpled tissue before I drink some water from the sink and wash my hands. Hunk is sitting in his bed waiting for me when I emerge. "Are you okay? You sounded like you were choking."

"Yeah, I'm good. I don't know, it was weird and gross. I was kind of choking." I admit.

"Well... Are you good?" He hands me a water bottle and I smile.

"All good buddy. Thanks for worrying." Hunk smiles softly and returns to his homework while I prepare to unpack my shit and get ready for a shower. The disease is progressing. I need to figure this shit out. I need to figure out who the hell I fell in love with.


	36. Facing Reality

_Playlist: Almost - DNCE_

**_After_ **

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take it. I had to tell somebody, anybody about what was happening to me. And who better to tell then my roommate? It's been two weeks since we first started school again and keeping this secret from my friends has proven difficult. I can't go a single day without one person asking me if I'm okay, if I'm taking my medicine, if the cough is getting worse. Aurora, Hunk and Allura especially are always asking me if I'm alright. Hunk is worried because he lives with me, Allura because well... She's basically a mom and Aurora because she says I'm her best friend.

"I need to protect you my child." She said a couple days ago at dinner, her arms around my shoulders as she hugged me. She hasn't stopped calling me "kid" and "her child" since she found out she's a couple months older than me. "I don't want my best friend to be sick because then you're going to get everyone else sick and that's not cool McClain."

"I thought I was your best friend." Tristen said with a huff.

"I was about to say the same thing." Jeremy spoke up. Aurora stuck her tongue out at them.

"You're all losers and I'd trade you all if it meant Lance and I were friends forever!" Jeremy rolled his eyes while Tristen flipped her off. Aurora laughed, letting go of me as she began to get into a heated debate with her roommate and her boyfriend about why I was so "great".

"He's an idiot." Pidge argued, jumping in as I coughed into my shirt again.

I've always been able to change the subject when people ask about me. I'm just mainly trying to dodge their questions and get them to focus on something else. But without fail, one or two of my friends ask about the cough. I want to at least tell Hunk about my problem because I live with him and because once I tell him, maybe the two of us can figure out how to fix me or figure out who I fell in love with. Either way, it'll get one person to stop asking me if I'm okay. I don't want him to worry about me more though once he knows but... I can't just keep this to myself anymore.

* * *

After school Friday and before Pidge came over for our weekly video game matches, I sat Hunk down and prepared to tell him something and at first, the two of us joked about it. "You gonna tell me you have a boyfriend Lance?" Hunk asks with a grin. I laughed, unable to stop myself. "The last time you sat me down like this was so you could tell me you were bi." I coughed into my arm and shrugged. I could feel a flower coming up. Before, when the Hanahaki Disease wasn't as serious, I would get sporadic fevers, cough up a couple petals here and there and constantly be coughing and trying to clear my throat. But now, now I was coughing up at least one flower every two days.

"I umm. It's not that unfortunately." I said, coughing again. "It's actually about this." I pointed to myself, more specifically at my throat and Hunk frowned.

"Your cough? Is it more than just a cold Lance?" I nod.

"It's not something that serious." I said before he could ask if it was cancer of the throat or something. "Okay, I lied. It's actually kind of serious."

"What is it Lance?" I opened my mouth to reply but the rush of air that hit my lungs started to aggravate my throat and I ended up coughing instead, I quickly grabbed a couple of tissues from the box sitting only my bed and, very grossly, started to hack up another blood soaked flower.

"Okay well I..." I said, looking up at Hunk to show him the flower but he was covering his eyes with his large hands and I eyed him quizzically. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Lance, but that's gross. If you were going to cough up flem or something you could've gone to the bathroom." I almost laughed, but instead I shook my head.

"I know it's gross and I'm sorry buddy but you have to look at what's in the tissues, it'll explain everything." His eyes still covered, Hunk pretended to gag.

"Dude that's gross."

"It's not flem, I swear. It's worse. It's blood." That got him to lower his hands and I opened the tissues up further to show him the almost beautiful, blood covered purple flower. Hunk stared down at it and then looked at me and then back down again. After doing that for a minute or so he said.

"Are you messing with me right now? You didn't just cough this up did you?"

"I'm not messing with you." I said firmly, giving him the most serious face I could muster. Hunk seemed to ponder this for a second or two.

"I want to believe you, you look pretty serious but.." he shakes his head and leans away from me and the flower. "It's just.. It's crazy."

"You're telling me, I'm the one coughing up flowers. I thought I'd lost my mind." Hunk gapped his chin.

"And you didn't just swallow it to freak me out?"

"No Hunk, I swear. I don't even know what type of flower this is."

"Do it again. I'll watch carefully this time." I shake my head.

"It doesn't work like that buddy. I'm sick. So I used to cough up flower petals every now and then but now I'm coughing up full flowers every couple of days or so. I can't do it on command." Though my throat did feel itchy and dry, it didn't feel like another flower was trying to creep up my esophagus. Hunk pursed his lips.

"Okay so..." he paused. "Flowers, purple flowers. Where are they coming from? What is this?"

"I Uhh looked it up. It's called the Hanahaki Disease and apparently flowers are growing in my lungs." Hunk's eyebrows furrowed together.

"That makes zero sense. Flowers can't grow in lungs. It sounds like that lie ' _If you eat watermelon seeds you'll grow a watermelon in your tummy_ '. That doesn't actually happen." I nod my head slowly.

"I know it sounds crazy but I swear, this is happening."

"Must be a really rare disease." Hunk murmured. "I've never even heard of Hana... What was it called again?"

"Hanahaki Disease."

"Sounds Japanese." Hunk mused.

"It is." I replied with a nod. " _Hana_ means "flower", and _hakimasu_ means "to throw up"." I explained. It was one of the few bits of information I actually had on this disease.

"Why don't you talk to Shiro or Keith then? They're actually Japanese you know." He said with a smirk. I smile a little.

"I know but I don't want them to know about it."

"Why not?" Hunk asked, confused. I sighed and pulled out my phone, already open to the wiki page about the disease. I handed him my phone and Hunk began to read the article. "Wait..." Hunk said, rereading the portion where it talked about the Hanahaki Disease being complete fiction. "Lance, are you messing with me?"

"Hunk, I swear to you I'm not. This is why I haven't told anyone, not even my family. I'm sick from a disease that isn't even _real_ Hunk." He opened his mouth to reply but shut it again so he could keep reading. When he finished the short page, he reread it. I watched him do this, wringing my hands in worry.

"I... I almost don't want to believe you." My shoulders slumped and Hunk sighed. "But I can see you're really torn up over this so... I do." I exhaled in relief and smiled at him warily.

"Thanks buddy." Hunk handed me back my phone and ran his hands through his shaggy black hair.

"Jesus Lance, what are we gonna do? Do you know who you're supposedly in love with?" I blushed red.

"No. I have no clue. I'm not in love with anyone. I just flirt a lot." I mumbled. Hunk sighs.

"I know so... It has to be one of them Lance. Who have you been talking to recently?" Nobody... I haven't really flirted with many people. I started to give him a short list of people I thought it might be though. They were people I found attractive, people form some of my past classes. I was blanking on several names though.

"I don't know." I finally said. "It could be one of them it could be none of them. I don't know whose killing me."

"Well, technically you're killing yourself. It says you love someone who doesn't love you back." Hunk took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll come up with a list. Have you been taking medicine for the cough at least? Does it help?" I shrugged. Not really and if it did alleviate the burning feeling, it didn't help it for long. Hunk sighed. "Don't worry buddy, okay. We'll figure this out once we tell our other friends."

"Wait! No!" I protested, standing suddenly.

"Why?"

"Because... it's dumb. They're not going to believe us Hunk."

"I believe you." I frowned.

"I mean... Okay maybe they'll believe us but I don't want them to worry. Hunk, this can kill me apparently." His gaze shifted to the floor, as if he didn't want to think about that portion of the disease. "I want to keep this as down low as possible okay? Please?"

"Fine, but only because you're the one that's sick, not me." He huffed. "I'll try not to spill your secret but you know what a terrible liar I am." I went to hug him and he hugged me back tightly.

"Thanks dude. I appreciate it."

* * *

Hunk kept my secret for a week, which was honestly longer than I thought he would. He accidentally let it slip to Pidge that he knew I didn't have a cold. She badgered him until he came clean and when I got home from school Friday afternoon, Pidge and Hunk were both sitting in my room, waiting for me. Pidge jumped up as I walked in, coughing into my elbow. "I know why you're sick." I frowned a little and looked toward Hunk.

"I'm sorry dude. You know how persistent she is. I didn't mean to let it slip."

"And you believe him?" I ask Pidge.

"Not really... Can you cough up a flower right now?" I had been feeling the need to for a couple hours but I always liked waiting until I got back to my dorm to actually follow through on it.

"Maybe in a little bit." I murmured. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to cough up a flower for her. I knew she only wanted to help. I knew she wanted to get to the bottom of this as much as we did but I felt like I was being put on display in a way.

The three of us were half heartedly playing a video game as we waited for me to get the urge to cough. When I finally did, Pidge asked if I could remove my jacket. She didn't want me to pull something out of my sleeve to trick her or something. I didn't mind that much, I just felt weird as the two of them watched me choke on stigma and pollen. When I had finally gotten the flower onto the tissues, Pidge just stared at me and then at the flower. She even wanted to pick it up and examine it but Hunk told her that was gross and she refrained from doing so. "It looks real." She murmured.

"It is real." I emphasized. Pidge sighed.

"Where's a microscope when you need one." She grumbled to herself, running her hand through her hair anxiously. It was tied back in a ponytail today and she had let it grow past her shoulders. I thought it looked cute. "So I looked up this stupid disease." She said slowly, pulling out her phone. "And there's nothing. I literally read the wiki page and then a couple of people's fanfics on AO3." Hunk and I gave her a funny look. "It's a fanfic site. Archive of Our Own." She explained. "And the story was always the same. Person A falls for Person B. Person A gets sick and keeps getting sick until they admit to Person B that they like them and they either get better because Person B loves them too or they die because Person B doesn't feel the same way."

"Well shit. Can't I just get over them? I don't want to fucking die!" I cried out. "I don't even know who it is."

"Hunk said you two made a list?" I nod and pull my notebook out of my bag. I had wrote it in my film history notebook and every now and then, the two of us would add names if we remembered someone I had flirted with. The list wasn't that long right now though. Pidge looked it over and nodded.

"We're gonna make adjustments." She said, sitting on my bed. "And I want to talk to Matt about the medical implications of this disease and how.."

"No. No Matt." Pidge frowned at me, putting the list in her lap.

"Matt is training to be a doctor. He's going to medical school soon Lance. He'd be the first person I'd talk to if I mysteriously started coughing up flowers."

"According to wiki, it's not mysterious." I sighed. "Can't we please just keep this between the three of us, I don't want everyone knowing."

"Why?" Pidge asked.

"It's kind of embarrassing to be honest and I don't want anyone to worry. It's not that bad right now okay the three of us can figure this out. I'll get better and we'll never have to discuss any of this ever again."

"But Lance..." Hunk began to say but I interrupted him

"You're two of the smartest people I know." I argued. "The three of us can do this. We're the Three Musketeers! The Three Amigos! The Golden Trio! The Unholy Trinity! We have nothing to _worry_ about."

"Okay Lance. I won't tell my brother." Pidge finally agreed. "But if we can't figure this out, if you get worse than you are right now..."

"Then you can tell him. Just... Just ask me again, later. When we're stumped." Pidge nodded. We were all too wired to continue playing video games so we spent the rest of our time together researching the Hanahaki Disease.


	37. My Best Friend

_Playlist: Sorry - Halsey_

**_After_ **

I swear to god, if my best friend dies, I'm going to burn the whole school down. Lance is looking at me like a man who's playing the worlds saddest symphony on the worlds smallest violin. "Can't we please just keep this between the three of us, I don't want everyone knowing." He begged, clasping his hands together and giving me his signature puppy dog look. This boy has perfected such a face. I'm not used to giving in to people, especially if I think they're stupid. But Lance always manages to convince me to listen to his dumb ideas.

"Why?" I demanded angrily. He was being irrational. Matt was the best person to help us in this situation. He's always the first person I go to when I have problems and that's not just because he's my brother. He's a good problem solver. He thinks rationally and he always seems to have the answers.

"It's kind of embarrassing to be honest and I don't want anyone to worry. It's not that bad right now okay? The three of us can figure this out. I'll get better and we'll never have to discuss any of this ever again." I tried not to roll my eyes. Instead, I looked towards Hunk who was wearing a similar worried expression to Lance. Of course Hunk would be on Lance's side.

"But Lance..." Hunk said slowly, catching my vibe. He knew we shouldn't hide this from everyone but he also wanted to keep a promise to a friend.

"You're two of the smartest people I know." He argued. "The three of us can do this. We're the Three Musketeers! The Three Amigos! The Golden Trio! The Unholy Trinity! We have nothing to _worry_ about."

"Okay Lance. I won't tell my brother." I finally agreed. "But if we can't figure this out, if you get worse than you are right now..." Lance agreed to let me tell Matt eventually. Just not now, not now. Hunk, Lance and I spend the rest of our night researching. There's not much information beyond what we already know though. I don't know what Hunk and Lance looked at (honestly I think Lance got distracted and started looking at memes) but I read fanfiction until my eyes bled.

Then, I went back to my dorm and read some more, even watched a couple of videos on YouTube that people had created about the disease. And all evidence pointed to the same conclusion, the Hanahaki Disease wasn't real. Sarah appeared next to me, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I pulled my headphones down and she laughed at me a little. "Hey best friend. What's got you looking so serious?" I shrugged a little. Sarah and I became roommates this past year after we decided we both hated the people we were first paired with. Living with Sarah is easy. I always showered in the morning and she always showered at night. We were both pretty clean people and got along swimmingly. She was one of the only girl friends I had at this school.

"Nothing really."

"You've been concentrating on your phone pretty hard ever since you came home. What are you watching?" She asked nodding to the video on my phone before she went back to her dresser and continued to get ready for bed. She had already showered and brushed her teeth by the time I entered the room. That's another thing I like about Sarah, both of us promptly go to bed at eleven o'clock and on the weekends, the two of us stay up until two AM watching stupid videos or movies together.

"I was just... Reading up on something." I said vaguely. Lance didn't want me to tell Matt but... Was Sarah fair game? Maybe I'll just tell her I was reading up on the Hanahaki Disease. That's not too suspicious.

"Reading what?"

"Have you ever heard of the Hanahaki Disease?" I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth. Sarah nodded immediately.

"Oh yeah, I read a lot of fanfics on that disease. It's always so tragic." She says, sitting down on top of her bed and crossing her legs.

"What do you know about it?"

"Well, in the stories, people usually get it if they like someone who doesn't like them back, or at least doesn't know that this person likes them. Then they either get together and the person gets better or... They die. Usually the flowers choke them." Sarah says with a slight shrug. My throat felt weird jut thinking about it.

"Yeah all the stories end in those two ways. Isn't there a third option?"

"Not that I've come across."

"So it's either die, or confess and hope they like you back?"

"That's the tragic part Katie. In most fics I've read, the person dies because either the other person doesn't like them back or they never admit their feelings to the person and they die." Sarah's one of the only people at this school that calls me Katie. She doesn't do it very often but when she does, sometimes I forget that that's actually my name.

"Well that sucks." I muttered, trying not to panic or get worked up over it.

"Are you reading a particularly sad story?" She asked me, climbing into bed. I sighed and hit the power button on my phone, closing the screen.

"Yeah, kind of." I murmured. "I just don't get it. Flowers can't grow in people's lungs." I grumbled, hardly even talking about the fanfiction I was reading..

"That's why it's called fiction my dude. It's not real." But it is real. I watched Lance cough up a flower. A perfect, purple flower. It had a stem and everything. Lance had explained how before, in the early stages of the illness, he had only coughed up flower petals but now, it had progressed to actual flowers. The thought made me nervous. "You gonna go to bed soon?" She asks with a yawn. I nod. My eyes are tired. I rub at them a little and begin to change into my pajamas, my head spinning with all the new information I've received.

"Hey, Sarah?" I whisper as I turn off the bedroom light, ready to step into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"Hmm?" She asks sleepily.

"Do you.. Do you know if Lance has a crush on anyone?"

"I don't know." She yawns again and it almost makes me yawn. "You're closer to him than I am." I sigh and flip on the light for the bathroom. "But I did kind of think he had a thing for Jeremy when we first met." She laughs tiredly and I swear my pulse races. The list didn't have Jeremy on it. It didn't have any of our friends. Could it be one of us? Could Lance have fallen in love with someone close to him and not want to admit it? Is that why he doesn't want everyone to know?

I have to talk to Hunk.


	38. How To Make A Boy Blush

_Playlist: Nightingale - Demi Lovato_

**_After_ **

Has your throat ever hurt so bad that you just wanted to rip it out of your goddamn body? That's how I was feeling right now. It was this itch I couldn't scratch. A dry feeling I couldn't get rid of. A weird ache that I couldn't soothe. Drinking water didn't really help and neither did eating. Surprisingly, cough drops did but it was only a temporary relief. Plus, who wants to walk around sucking on cough drops all day? My breath smelled like medicine and honey. I hated it. I just wanted the flowers to go away. I just wanted it to stop. I just wanted everything to stop.

* * *

I was supposed to be meeting Aurora and Kieth for dinner but my ass was running late. I had been studiously doing some homework and completely lost track of time. Eventually, Aurora called me to ask what was up. "You coming to eat or what McClain?" She asked when I answered the phone.

"Shit. Am I late?" I asked, glancing around for a clock when I knew damn well the only clock in the room was on my phone and the icon on my laptop.

"By about thirty minutes dude." I heard Keith say.

"Am I on speaker?" I demanded. I heard the two of them laugh.

"Yeah, now come on we're starving! Keith and I ran out of mean things to say about you." Aurora says as I hurriedly begin to put on my shoes and look for my ID.

"Actually, hang up. I just thought of something." Keith says, sounding excited. Aurora tells me to hurry my ass up and I smile before telling them I'd be there in five minutes. We hang up just as I finish putting my shoes on and I exit my room, locking the door behind me. Hopefully Hunk didn't forget his keys again.

I find Aurora and Keith sitting at our usual table. I hear Keith's laugh as soon as I enter the room and I smile to myself, following the sound. Aurora somehow always manages to make him laugh when I can't. We're practically the same person, shitty puns, cool hair, obnoxious laughter, so I don't know why Keith warmed up to her faster than he did me. Maybe he's used to having girl friends. I don't really know.

When Aurora and Keith see me walking towards them, Aurora cups her hand over her mouth so I can't see half of her face and says something to Keith in a low voice. Keith's eyes widen as he looks over at her. "Shut up!" I hear him grumble, moving to punch her in the arm. Aurora laughs, dodging his feint before she greets me, standing up so we can hug.

"Hello best friend. How are we tonight?" She asks with a wide smile.

"Alright I guess. I can't believe I got caught up in doing homework though. Yuck." She laughs.

"Keep being a good student and you might surpass Pidge as the smartest person in our group." I shake my head at her as the two of us sit down.

"Nobody can surpass Pidge."

"At anything. She's the smartest, the best video game player.." Keith begins to list off.

"The coolest of the Trio." Aurora says, nudging me.

"Trio?" Keith asks.

"Yeah, you've never heard Pidge, Hunk or I refer to ourselves as that?" I ask. Keith shakes his head, lips pursed. "Well yeah, I mean the three of us are really close. But now you're here and we're a quartet." He smiles faintly, like he only half believes what I'm saying.

"I'm offended. Keith gets inducted into your exclusive group before I do? I thought Pidge and Hunk _loved_ me." Aurora says, fake crying into her hands and making us laugh. "Anyways, lets get food you losers. I'm starving. I can't believe you made us wait Lance."

"Aurora was getting ready to head to your dorm and kick your ass."

"Yikes, good thing y'all called first instead." I said as the three of us began to get up. Aurora looped one arm through mine and the other through Keith's and the three of us walked over to where food was being served. It took me a while to decide what I wanted but Keith and Aurora immediately went for the Firecracker salad, a specialty they serve sometimes. It's really good but I didn't feel like being healthy. I kind of wanted the chicken dish. Eventually, that's what I got and as I walked back to the table after letting the guy at the register swipe my ID, I saw that Aurora and Keith seemed to be arguing over something. Keith's cheeks were pink, like was blushing. The two of them shut up as I came within hearing distance.

"What are you two arguing about?" I ask as I sit back down next to Aurora.

"Oh we were just discussing a guy Keith likes." Aurora said with a shrug.

"Aurora!" Keith shouted indignantly, blushing harder. I laughed a little.

"I didn't know you liked someone. Who is it? Is it Andrew from our psych class? I think he's a junior. He's really cute Aurora he has some _really_ nice back muscles." Aurora laughed as Keith shook his head.

"I don't like Andrew." He grumbled. I quickly ran through several attractive people from Keith and I's shared classes, as those were the only people we'd both know that he could like. We'd been in school a month though and Keith didn't know some of the names of our classmates.

"I don't know who Kevin is." I snorted.

"How do you not know? He always answers the teachers questions in film class." Keith shrugs. "Sits up front, blonde hair." Aurora nudged me.

"I think you're more... People crazy than he is. I was going to say boy crazy but you like girls too." I smiled.

"Which reminds me, there's this beautiful girl in our psych class. Nice dark hair, sparkly eyes but she also takes that class with her boyfriend who looks like a punk." I grumbled. Aurora laughed. I watched Keith push his food around on his plate almost dejectedly. "So it's not someone in the classes we have together?" I ask him. Keith shakes his head.

"Nope. Nobody in our class." I hear Aurora kick him under the table and he looks up to glare at her. Aurora just smiles though. "It's nobody you know." He says turning to me. Aurora huffs. I get the feeling she really wants to tell me who he likes but can't because Keith told her not to.

"You don't want to tell me?" I ask.

"Nope." He replied bluntly, shoving food into his mouth so he didn't have to talk anymore. He was still blushing, his ears were red now too.

"I've never seen him blush so much." Aurora commented before turning to me. "Don't take it too hard Lance. He almost didn't want to tell me who he liked because he knew I'd be a bitch about it."

"That's rude, you're not a bitch." Keith muttered something under his breath that Aurora must have heard because she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever Keith. He just hates that I've been teasing him about it." She says to me.

"Well you can tell me anytime buddy." I say to Keith. "I want to know who this mystery person is." Keith doesn't look up, just nods. Huh.. I wonder why he doesn't want to tell me.

All through dinner, I fight the urge to cough up a flower. My throat is particularly irritated and I don't know if it's the food or what but holding back the flowers is making me nauseated. Eventually, I excuse myself to the bathroom.

"You okay dude? You've barely eaten anything." Aurora says, glancing at my plate. They all finished a while ago but I'm still trying to force the food down my throat.

"Yeah I'm good, just feel a little sick. I'll be right back." I rush towards the bathroom down the hall. This one is a single stall restroom that we're not actually supposed to use because it's mainly for the kitchen staff but I've seen students use it anyways. The one downstairs always smells funny. I lock the door as I enter the room and immediately double over with a coughing fit. I feel like I can barely breath. My hands are shaking and I'm beginning to sweat pretty badly. I've had a fever on and off for two days now. I haven't told Hunk or Pidge though because then they'll want to bring everyone else in on my secret.

Finally, I feel the petals rubbing against my tongue and taste blood in my mouth. I hack up the flower into the sink and find that it's not just a flower, but a couple petals sit in the blood splattered porcelain. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and have to pick up the petals and flower to flush them down the toilet. There's no trash can in here since this school only has hand dryers. I then wash the sink and my hands of the blood and stare at myself in the mirror.

_What the fuck is happening to you Lance? Get a grip, please._

I head back out to the cafeteria where I finish the rest of my food. Aurora seems relieved that I feel better and the three of us begin to walk back to the dorms together. "Want to hangout with Keith, Tristen, and I?" Aurora asks as we pause between the two buildings. I live in Copper Hall, most people just call it building C, and Aurora and some of our other friends, like Pidge live in Bakers Village, or B.V.

"Nah, I still have homework I need to finish." Otherwise I would have totally taken her up on the offer but with the flowers and my slacking, I'm falling a little behind on school stuff.

"Lame." Aurora says before hugging me. I laugh as I hug her back, refraining from coughing while I'm so close to her. "Have fun being boring." She says as we let go.

"I'll try. See you later Keith." I say holding my fist out to him. He pounds his knuckles against my own lightly, a small smile on his face.

"See ya later." He says. I wink at Aurora, making her giggle and then salute the two of them before heading inside the C building.

* * *

"Have you been taking medicine Lance?" I stick my tongue out at Allura and Shiro gives me a look but Allura just giggles. "Don't be a baby." She says, ruffling my hair and reminding me of how my sister Carla would mess up my hair just to get on my damn nerves, especially when I was going through my Emo phase.

"I'm taking my medicine Allura." I told her as she sat down on Shiro's lap in his armchair. She pulled her hair thick back so she could tie it off as she continued to talk to me.

"Doesn't sound like it. You've still got that nasty cough." Pidge elbowed me from her seat the floor. I refrained from kicking her leg. Her and Hunk were playing video games. Matt was in his room studying and Keith hadn't come in yet. It was stupid, since we weren't near the parking lot but I kept trying to listen for the sound of his motorcycle.

"It's just a cough. I'm not dying." Hunk muttered something under his breath and I poked him in the head. He flipped me off when he got the chance and I laughed as I pulled my legs up onto the couch and began to sit cross legged.

"Well don't skip days okay. It won't get better if you do that." Allura scolded.

"I know. Don't worry." I heard the unmistakable sound of the front door being opened and I immediately turned to look at Keith as he walked in, carrying his helmet under his head.

"Hey man!" I said Keith looked over at me and smiled as everyone else greeted him in their own fashion.

"What's up?" Keith asked, kicking off his shoes before coming to sit next to me on the couch, maneuvering around Hunk and Pidge on the floor who complained that he had briefly blocked their view. "Where's Matt?"

"Stressing out over a test." Shiro said gesturing down the hallway to his room.

"Ah." Keith leaned back into the pillows, his arm brushing mine as he sat back. "Is it hot in here?" He asks, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Nope. It's that stupid helmet of yours." I said, patting his dark hair. "It's too stuffy." Keith laughs, wiping at the sweat on the back of his neck. "And maybe it's the hair."

"I'm not cutting it Lance." He said with a roll of his eyes.

"You should. How can you even see with it hanging in your face like that." I said before dragging my fingers through his hair and bringing more of it down in the front to cover half of his face.

"Hey!" Keith exclaims, hitting my hand away before shaking his head out and letting his hair fall naturally back into place. "I remember a certain someone telling me they liked my hair." He replied with a smirk. I was so stunned that he had brought that up, I couldn't formulate a response. Plus, that arched eyebrow and coy smile was making my heart skip a beat.

"I Uhh.." I cleared my throat, unable to stop myself from turning red. God damnit. "Whatever Keith." I murmured shoving him a little.

"Yeah, Whatever." Keith repeated, still smiling as he turned his attention back to the TV. _Jesus_. How can Keith always manage to make me blush?


	39. Flowering

_Playlist: Say Something - A Great Big World_

**_After_ **

The weird thing about coughing, when you're sick, is that once you get started, you almost don't want to stop. For a little while, coughing relieves that soreness. It makes it feel more real in a sense, like the pain isn't just in your head. What's different about the Hanahaki Disease is that, once I start coughing, once I start feeling those flower petals come out, I _know_ I can't stop until the flower comes out. I've tried. It hurts too much to actually cough one up so once in a while, I tried to hold it back but that just leaves me chocking on flower petals. It's not fun. So I have to let it come up. I have to let it work it's way through my body.

What's even scarier to me though, is that sometimes, I want to cough up the flowers. It's my punishment for falling in love with someone and being to chicken to admit to those feelings. I keep running over the names in my head. Names of girls, of boys, of my friends. I love my friends, I know that much but am I in love with one of them? I think that's what my friends have been assuming. Pidge wants to scrap the first list Hunk and I made. She says it's not accurate but I don't know how it could be improved. What am I missing? What obvious clues are flying over my head?

* * *

"Stop cheating Kogane!" I shout at Keith, shoving his shoulder as he destroys my space cruiser yet again.

"You just think I'm cheating because I'm winning." Keith said with a grin, shoving me back.

"No, I think you're cheating because you're cheating." I countered. Keith laughed, tossing his head back and shaking his hair out a little.

"That's a stupid comeback. You've been off your game McClain. I think this cold is getting to your head." He said, poking my forehead as my character finally re-spawned.

"Not that there's much in his head." Pidge murmured from her spot at my desk, sitting backwards in the chair. I coughed a little and flipped her off. She didn't return the gesture though. Her face scrunched up in worry, her eyebrows arching down as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Pay attention Lance." Keith said with a chuckle as I heard the familiar blaster sounds, my controller vibrating in my hands from his attack.

"You dick." I grumbled. Keith was still smirking next to me, like an idiot and I swore that I would destroy his character and his ego once and for all if I could just think straight. I had felt s little sluggish, my head a little clouded like I couldn't concentrate on anything for too long. Was that part of the Hanahaki Disease? Or was I just tired. Maybe the tiredness is part of the Hanahaki Disease. Who knows? I surely don't.

"Man, you're really not into this are you." Keith said as he killed me yet again. I shrugged, my shoulders feeling stiff and heavy. God I hope this weariness doesn't continue, I'll never be able to go to swim practice like this.

"Guess not. I'm kind of tired."

"You're always tired now. What's up?" He asked as I started to cough again. _Please, no more petals please._

"The ceiling." Keith rolled his eyes at my dumb middle school joke. "I don't know. I just can't shake this cold I guess."

"That's why Allura keeps trying to give you those vitamins."

"I don't think vitamins will help." I heard Hunk murmur something but I didn't catch what he said. Keith on the other hand gave him a slightly confused look so maybe he heard him.

"I think they will. What's wrong with a little vitamin D?" I had to refrain from saying _Vitamin Dick_ and instead, got up and started to stretch out my arms, which resulted in me yawning really loudly and then feeling like I was going to have another coughing fit.

"Nothing. Maybe I will take them next time we're there." Keith nods and stands as well.

"Well, I have some homework and shit to do. I'll see you all later."

"Bye Keith." Pidge and Hunk almost said in unison.

"See ya later my man." Keith smiled a little as he headed for the door, fixing his jacket as he went. Damn that boy looks good in leather. As soon as the door closed behind him, I immediately started to gag. I had held it back too long. The flower was trying to choke me.

"Lance!" Pidge exclaimed as I grabbed at my throat in vain. I had to die quieter. Keith could walk back in if he hears the commotion. I tried to breathe in and out slowly but I was beginning to panic. My lungs felt like they were collapsing. I rushed to the bathroom, locking the door before Hunk could stop me and made a beeline for the toilet where I immediately began to hack up blood and flower petals until the vile thing was out of my mouth. Fuck these stupid flowers.

After that, I collapsed onto the floor a little, my back against the tub as I tried to catch my breath. "Lance?" Pidge and Hunk called nervously. I think I made some half-coherent response of,

"I'm not dead." And that seemed to satisfy them a little. But I could hear them arguing. They wanted me to open the door and... Something else. Pidge was saying she was going to call someone. I didn't know who though. When I had gotten some of my strength back, I stood up, flushed the toilet and turned on the sink.

I splashed some water against my face and then cupped my hands under the faucet so I could drink some of it. I could've just walked out into the room and grabbed some water but I didn't want to go out there and face them just yet. I didn't want to have to talk to them about what was going to be our next move. I didn't have any other moves. I didn't know what to do besides figure out who I had apparently fallen in love with.

"Alright, where is he." I heard Matt demand from inside our room. Jesus did she call Matt? How long have I been in this fucking bathroom? Pidge hushed him and I could hear her whispered voice saying something to him but I couldn't make out what it was.

"Lance, please come out of the bathroom." Hunk begged.

"Is Matt out there?" I asked. They were silent.

"Yes." Matt finally called back.

"What did you do Pidge?" I demanded.

"Lance!" She exclaimed. "You've been in that bathroom for almost fifteen minutes! Do you even realize that?" She asked. Had I really? I guess I was just that fucking exhausted. Did I pass out on the floor? Did I just loose all sense of time. I could've sworn I'd only been in here about five minutes.

"What did you do Pidge?" I asked again. She said nothing. Instead, Matt began to speak.

"Lance, just come out of the bathroom and I can..." She told him. I knew it. She fucking told him.

"No! We had an agreement!" I snapped at them. "How could you let her do this Hunk!"

"I suggested it." He shouted back at me. "Now shut up and come out here. You've gotten worse Lance. It's not not just petals anymore, it's full flowers." There was no arguing with him there and if I really had passed out in this bathroom, that wasn't good either. But now Matt knew. Matt knew and he might just think we were fucking with him.

When I exited the bathroom, Matt had a black bag with him. I didn't have to guess what was in it. Probably a bunch of doctor shit like a stethoscope and tongue depressors and stuff like that. I eyed them all wearily. "You actually believe us?" I asked in a deadpan voice as Matt eyed me curiously.

"I believe in symptoms and I believe my sister. If she says you're coughing up flowers than... You must be really coughing up flowers because she rarely jokes and she never lies." I scoffed a little, moving past my concerned friends so I could sit on my bed.

"Well now what?" I demanded.

"Now I get a look at your throat and you tell me about all the side effects you've experienced." I coughed s little into the crook of my elbow and sighed.

"Fine. But it's not much." Turns out, it kind of was. Joint pain. Muscle aches. Occasionally fevers. A persistent cough. Bouts of tiredness and fatigue. Cold sweats. Blood on the flowers and petals. I didn't even know I had felt all of these things until I listed them all out for him.

Matt made me do that thing where you breath in and out and the doctor listens to your lungs or whatever. He wore s blank expression the whole time as he checked my current temperature, wrote down notes about what I was feeling and finally, took out some sort of flashlight so he could look down my throat.

"You want to know if you can see flowers? I think Pidge already tried that."

"I'm not just looking for flowers. I'm looking to see if your throat is inflamed." After making me stick out my tongue and say _Ahh_ several times over, Matt finally sighed and l irked the end off his light to shut it off.

"Well?" I asked as Matt ran a hand through his hair. Pidge and Hunk looked on nervously. I think they were more stressed out than I was about this whole situation. "Give it to me straight Doc. Am I dying?" I joked.

"It's not funny Lance!" Pidge complained, looking like she was ready to punch me in the gut. I coughed a little and tried not to smile.

"I'm not saying its funny but you all look so serious and it's making me nervous." I said, clenching my hands into fists so they would stop shaking. I hadn't even noticed I was trembling in the first place.

"Well.." Matt begins. "I can't _see_ any flowers. But that doesn't mean they're not there. You just look like you have a sore throat. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"If you can't see them then whose to say that they are there?" I countered. "Reverse psychology. I need to start thinking their aren't flowers growing in my lungs and maybe they'll stop." My friends sighed heavily and I laughed, only for it to be interrupted by a wet, gross sounding cough. Pidge frowned at me.

"I can't believe this is what you've all been hiding. I knew it was something but I didn't think it had anything to do with Lance being sick."

"We're not hidnig it." I argued as Matt began to pack up his things. "We just haven't told anyone else. I didn't want anyone t worry and I wanted to figure this out on my own."

"But since he's an airhead he needed our help." Hunk said a bit jokingly.

"Who else knows?"

"Just the three of you." I said, gesturing out to them. "And we're not going to tell Keith, Allura or Shiro or anyone else about all of this. Okay?" Matt frowned a little.

"Why? They're the Asian ones they might know something about this Hanahaki thing."

"Just because they're Japanese and this disease is a fake Japanese one, doesn't mean they'll know what it is." I replied with a sigh. I couldn't let them find out about all of this. I'd get a good scolding from Allura about my flirtatious behavior. Matt sighed.

"Fine, I won't tell them but they're gonna know somethings up with all of us now." He says, looking around the room at everyone.

"So we'll just have to hide it better." Their faces are so solemn and serious, I would've laughed if it didn't make me want to cough.

* * *

"I still think that..."

"Nope."

"Come on Lance it's not that..."

"Not doing it Hunk."

"Why are you so..."

"Annoying? Insufferable? Handsome?" I threw out, smiling over at my best friend as we finished getting ready for bed.

"Stubborn." Hunk finished. "They're our friends. They should know what's going on with you." Hunk had just tried to convince me to tell Aurora about the flower bullshit but I wasn't ready for that. I didn't want her to think I was crazy, I already felt like I had lost my mind.

"How's classes?" I asked Hunk, just to change the subject. He sighed heavily but responded to my question anyways.

"Jeremy and I have another class together. It might be our last one though since it's his last elective for our major. It's pretty cool. We're learning how to make fancy shit like quiche." I smiled a little.

"You gotta make me some more pudding dude. I'll be your best friend forever if you do."

"We're already best friends idiot."

"But _forever_ Hunk. That's longest lasting friendship there is. You can't get rid of me."

"I wouldn't even if I wanted to."

"Aw Hunk, you're gonna make me cry." I said, mimicking a fake tear rolling down my cheek. Hunk smirked and got up to turn off the light.

"You're the worst."

"Love you too dude." He shut off the light and we were bathed in darkness. God I hope I don't wake up wanting to cough again tonight.


	40. The Idiot

_Playlist: Little Do You Know - Alex & Sierra_

**_After_ **

If Pidge thought I would know something more about Lance's disease, she thought wrong. Lance really only agreed to let me in on his secret because he saw how worried Hunk, and Pidge, and everyone were. Honestly, our group dynamic hasn't been the same since Lance contracted this fictionalized Hanahaki Disease. Sure, he still jokes around and acts like a complete dork but you can tell he's holding back. You can tell that the _Golden Trio_ knows something that the rest of us doesn't and now I'm in on the secret too. Lance is dying and unless we figure out who he fell in love with, we're going to loose him forever.

"You know something." Allura accused me as soon as I stepped back into the apartment. Damnit. I was trying to look inconspicuous. "What's wrong with Lance?"

"Allura, it's just a cold. No big deal." I said, trying to sound nonchalant as I shrugged my shoulders. Allura frowned.

"You're a bad liar." She accused. I laughed, hoping I didn't sound too nervous.

"No, she's right Matt. You're a bad fuckin liar." Shiro says with a slight frown.

"You said he passed out while you were on the phone with Pidge. Did he really pass out? Or were the kids being dramatic?" Allura pushed. She often calls Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Keith, etc. kids because... That's kind of what they are since we're older than them but we're not _that_ old.

"You two need to stop listening in on my phone conversations. What happened to privacy?" I joked, avoiding her question.

"Matt." Allura groaned.

"Alright, Alright. We think he did pass out but he was fine when I got there, coherent and everything. We gave him some water, an Advil, I checked out his throat and he's fine. Nothing out of the ordinary." Was the lie that slipped out of my mouth, how could I do this so easily? It was unreal. "I told him he needs to see a better doctor, or the school nurses." Another lie. I hadn't said that but I should have. Maybe there are flowers in his lungs that I can't see. He's going to need to get x-rays or something.

"It's just a cold." Allura asked again, eyeing me suspiciously.

"If it was anything else, I would tell you guys. Okay?" I said, being sincere. I would tell them, that wasn't a lie, but it wasn't my secret to tell, it was Lance's and if he wanted me to keep my mouth shut, that's what I was going to do.

"Okay." Allura said, finally giving in and moving back to the sofa so she could sit next to Shiro again. He put his arm back around her but continued to eye me incredulously. Shiro hadn't believed my lie so easily. I smiled weakly at him anyways and decided to take a shower to clear my head and think about everything I had just been told.

All the symptoms that Lance had told me about were the same symptoms for a cold. The muscle pain, fever, fatigue, a cough. The flowers and cold sweats were the unusual bits. Cold sweats aren't common with the cold or the flu and of course, nobody is supposed to be able to cough up flower petals.

I hadn't been able to get the whole story from Pidge about what had happened but she was no doubt trying to call me right now as I stood under the shower head, letting the water rush over me. It's a fictional disease. A fictional disease. But the pain he's in and the distress he's causing himself and our friends is real. And apparently so is his love for this other person. That's the part I can't wrap my mind around. Lance keeps saying he's not in love with anyone and... I believe him. Ever since his failed date with Jason, Lance hasn't really put himself back out there. (I don't think flirting really counts since he never follows through with anyone). He just really hasn't been the same since then.

I get out of the shower and dry myself quickly, running my hands through my hair. It's getting pretty long again. I can almost tie it back if I want. Instead, I shake out my hair and head back to my room. I grab up my phone, blowing up with messages and immediately call my sister, who has already tried calling five times. "Jesus, there you are." She says instead of an actual greeting.

"Hello to you too little sis. I was taking a shower. I had to process everything."

"That's right, I forget you're weird like that." I roll my eyes a little and flop down onto my back on my bed.

"Alright, So spill. When did you find out? What's your take on all of this?"

"Hunks known for almost three weeks now I think. I've known for about two. So far, we've tried coming up with a list of people that Lance could potentially be in love with. Most of these people are just random people he's flirted with maybe once but Hunk and I kind of have another idea."

"You think he likes one of us." I say, knowing what she means immediately.

"Exactly but we know if we bring it up, Lance will deny it immediately. Maybe he's in denial about all of this though. Maybe he doesn't want to love this person." I snort.

"That's dumb."

"He's dumb." Pidge says with a sigh.

"So, who do you want to put on the list that's not on there. Who's your number one pick that Lance has fallen in love with?" Pidge is quiet on the other end. "My bet is Aurora." She laughs.

"I was actually going to say Jeremy but both of our reasons are probably the same. They're unattainable, really hot, and both really great friends with Lance. He could be in love with one of them and not know that it's more than a platonic love." I nod my head.

"Sounds reasonable."

"Yeah, Hunk actually thinks it's Shiro which is also a pretty good guess." I snicker.

"I see his point." The two of us are quiet.

"I can't believe this is happening Matt. When you said college would be interesting, I didn't think it would be _this_ interesting." I laughed a little.

"It's a weird situation Pidge but... We'll figure this out. We're not going to let that idiot die." I hear her sniffle. Was she crying? Pidge wasn't much of a crier.

"You're right. Thanks Matt. I feel a little better."

"I'm glad." I say, glancing at the time on my phone. "I'll call to you tomorrow Alright? Love you lil sis."

"I'll send you the website links for everything we know about the disease." She says. "Love you too Matt." She finishes before we hung up. I sigh, dropping my phone onto my stomach. What the hell are we going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt is honestly one of the hottest animated characters I've seen??? Like how dare voltron make me lust after drawing lines and colors??? And, I'm not sure if I've alluded to the other characters knowing that Keith likes Lance, I think I have for Aurora, Shiro and Allura but I don't think I have for anyone else. That's why Pidge, Hunk and Matt are looking at the wrong people. Please correct me if I'm wrong! I'll go back and fix it lol


	41. The List

_Playlist: The One That Got Away - Katy Perry_

**_After_ **

"You what?" Pidge demanded one Saturday afternoon. It's been almost five days since we first told Matt about the disease. He's been literally scouring the internet in all of his free time, looking for answers, but even on page 16 of his google search, all he's getting is fanfiction. Which isn't much help. I shrugged at Pidge's angry scowl. "You didn't start coughing up petals until December and didn't tell us?"

"Yeah. Why? Is that important?" Hunk and Pidge groaned.

"Yes, it's important Lance." Pidge said adamantly. "We've been working with a list of people that ranges from the _past two years_. We could have cut a lot of this down, took a lot of these people off." I shrugged, coughing into my shirt. Pidge scoffed and glared at the list before tearing it out of my notebook and getting a new piece of paper.

"Are you rewriting names?" Hunk asked with a sigh, flopping onto his back on his bed. I really hadn't thought it was a big deal. Who cares when I started coughing up flower petals? The point is that now I'm coughing up _actual_ flowers. How fast was I progressing? How many flowers could I cough up before my throat was scratched beyond belief? How much longer do I have before this kills me?

"Yeah. I'm trying to remember who he met and when." She muttered, her hand flying across the page as she rewrote name after name. She paused every now and then, checking the first list so she could cross out names. She crossed out more names than she wrote so I guess the timeline was kind of important but I'm still not sure. It still doesn't really help with the whole, _Who am I in love with_ , question. Besides, I couldn't remember when exactly I started coughing, flower petals not included. Didn't I have a cough all Christmas break? When was the exact day I contracted this disease? What if I've been coughing since finals and just never noticed? What if it all started in November with a scratchy throat?

"Alright, here." Pidge said, handing the list to Hunk first. "Does this look okay?" Hunk read part of the list and looked back up at Pidge and then at me as I stared at the ceiling distractedly. I was fidgeting with the cube in my right hand. It really does help with your anxiety, and right now I was pretty fuckin anxious.

"Looks good." Hunk said softly, handing Pidge back the list as he finished. She took a deep breath and turned back towards me in her chair, list tightly gripped in her hands.

"So, let's run through it again Lance. Is this everyone that you've come in contact with this year?" I sighed as Pidge held the list out towards me. I was tired of going through it though. They're all the same names, all the same people that I _couldn't_ possibly love. I thought making a list would help but so far it hasn't.

"Yeah, Yeah it is." I murmured. Pidge narrowed her eyes at me.

"You didn't even look asshole. Look at it." I huffed and sat up taking the paper from her and looking at the shortened list of names. Nothing looked out of the ordinary at first until I neared the bottom of the list and saw Auroras name. I arched an eyebrow confused. Jeremy's name was there as well.

"Why'd you put Aurora on here? And Jeremy?" They hadn't been on the list before and it was making me blush a little to see their names there.

"Because you're very close to both of them so you need to figure out if you like them as just friends or something a little more." I wanted to tell them they were crazy. I was just friends with them. But, they were kind of right. I had to make sure I hadn't somehow developed a crush on one of these guys. I frowned though when I saw _Sarah, Tristen, Allura_ , and _Shiro_ written in Pidge's neat handwriting. Did they think I could possibly like all of them?

"Really guys?" I asked, gesturing to their names. "Why aren't your names here? Everyone else is, might as well put you guys too." I grumbled, annoyed. I wasn't in love with anyone, not a single person on this list struck a cord with me. They were my friends. That's it. I was just friends with them. Or not at all. Some of these people on here I only flirted with once or at the very least found attractive. It was nothing more than that.

"Because you don't love us like _that_." Pidge argued.

"You don't know that. Apparently you think I'm somehow in love with one of our friends so how would you know if I don't love one of you instead?" I snapped at her, shoving the list back into her hands. Pidge sighed and Hunk frowned a little.

"Are you okay? Does the disease affect your temper? You've had a very short fuse as of recently." I sighed and flopped down on to my bed. I wasn't sure. Maybe Hunk was right. I'm a little more hot tempered. That's usually Keith's thing. Maybe I'm just annoyed because I'm dying. That would irritate just about everyone.

"I guess. I just don't feel like myself really ever since I got this stupid disease." I grumbled. "I just want it to go away. I don't want to deal with this anymore."

"We'll figure it out." Pidge said with an air of confidence. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and began to make little boxes next to everybody's name, probably so we could check them off as I made my way down the list. I had also noticed that Jason's name was on there when I first read it but I was too surprised seeing our friends names to care that they thought I still had a thing for that douchebag.

"Should we put Keith on here?" Pidge asked. I turned slowly to look at my friends. Both Pidge and Hunk were wearing their solemn _Zero Joking_ faces.

"What?" I asked, just to clarify if I heard or not.

"Should we put Keith on the list." Hunk clarified for Pidge, as if I didn't understand it the first time when she had said it. "He's not on there and nearly everyone is." He's right, aside from themselves, Pidge and Hunk had omitted Matt and Keith from the list.

"Why would we put Keith on the list." Pidge looked away and when Hunk looked at her, she didn't return his gaze. "I'm in love with him about as much as I'm in love with Aurora or Allura or Jeremy, which is _Zero_."

"We're just asking because everyone else is on the list." Hunk said trying to back away from the conversation with a sigh.

"I like Keith, of course. We're _friends_." They didn't say anything. "I don't have a crush on him or any of our friends, I swear." Okay, maybe I have 1/4 of a crush on him, that's not enough to kill me is it? Besides, Keith said I wasn't his type. I already knew a relationship between us wasn't possible and I had accepted that. So what if I thought he had a cute smile. That shouldn't constitute love. That shouldn't be what's killing me right?

"Okay, I'm sorry we brought it up." Hunk said.

"So no Hunk, no Pidge, no Keith, no Matt and.."

"No Jeremy and Aurora." I finished. Pidge didn't cross out their names though.

"You should still talk to them. Test it out, I don't know." Pidge says with a frustrated sigh. I groaned. Fine, I would test it out or whatever but I wasn't going to like it. I knew I didn't like them. So there was really no point. No fucking point.

* * *

I was staring at Aurora and Jeremy as they sat across from me at the table. The two of them were laughing, talking and I think Aurora was trying to get Jeremy to eat an old packet of gummy bears she'd found at the bottom of her purse. Apparently, they were rock solid and Jeremy could barely chew them. Did I love these idiots? Yeah. Was I in love with them? I guess we'll find out.

"You okay Lance?" Aurora asks, getting my attention as she snaps her fingers at me.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." I said, focusing back in on my friends.

"Thinking really hard by the look of it." Jeremy kisses Aurora's forehead. "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom." He says, standing.

"Don't drown." Aurora jokes. Jeremy laughs, rolling his eyes as he walks away. My thoughts collapse back in on themselves as I try to figure out how to best approach the situation. How should I figure out if I'm in love with one of them without being straightforward? "Seriously Lance, you okay?" Aurora asks with a small smile. Before I can answer her, I have to cough three flower petals down into my shirt. Maybe straightforward was the best route. I wasn't getting any better.

"What would you do if I told you I loved you." Aurora smiled a little.

"I would tell you I love you too." I shake my head.

"No, I mean. What if I was _in_ love with you?" Aurora arched an eyebrow.

"Are you?"

"What if I was?" Aurora thinks about this, staring at me.

"I don't think you are." She's right. My heart isn't racing in my chest waiting for her reply. I'm just nervous about how I should go about this. How do I answer the question I know that's coming, _Why do you think you're in love with me_? That's one question I can't answer.

"Why not?"

"Because you and I are the same." I cough into my arm some more as she continues. "I thought I was in love with several boys before I meant Jeremy and he helped me understand what love means. I've seen the way you flirt with people, I've experienced it first hand. I know you love me Lance but I also know you're not _in_ love with me."

"What if I'm really, really good at hiding it." I said, trying to joke around a little. Aurora thought about this but eventually shook her head.

"I don't think so. When you're in love with someone. I mean, really in love, it shows on your face and the way you're looking at me right now Lance. That's not the face of someone that's in love with me." We can check Aurora off the list. "Now, what is this about? You're kind of scaring me." I laughed, which turned into a cough.

"Don't worry, I'm about to ask Jeremy the same question."

"Lance.." she said softly, eyes full of worry.

"It's nothing, I promise. It's just... An experiment of sorts."

"Funny experiment." She murmured.

"You're telling me." Jeremy came back from the bathroom but I didn't ask him the same question. I got all I needed from Aurora. She was right. I wasn't in love with her and I wasn't in love with Jeremy. I could feel it. I could feel it at the bottom of my heart. They were some of my best friends and I would do anything for them but I didn't want to give either of them my heart and soul. I was apparently in love with someone else entirely.


	42. Futures Destroyed

_Playlist: Good Enough - Little Mix_

**_After_ **

Coach Kenneth was shaking his head. He was pursing his lips. He wasn't going to let me into the water.

The moment I walked into the gym, trying to clear my throat but only managing to irritate the flowers, my coaches noticed. They didn't say anything at first. Maybe they thought it was a minor cough, not something that would be any problem. But after taking a couple laps in the pool and feeling like I couldn't breath properly, Coach Robby asked me to get out of the water. I could feel all the freshman staring at me but more importantly, I could hear Tony and his band of goons snickering.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying not to look bone tired or like I was low on stamina.

"Are you sick son? You're not looking so good, a little pale actually."

"It's just a minor cold. I'll try not to get any of the other guys sick though." Coach Robby looked out at the pool as Coach Kenneth continued to drill them. "Please don't send me back to the dorms. This is the first practice. I'm the team Captain. I should be here."

"Not if you're not feeling well Lance and especially if it's only getting to aggravate that cough of yours." I didn't reply. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would cough up petals. He sighs heavily, rubbing his forehead. "I know you're the Captain and I know you have a lot to prove but.. It's not a big deal Lance. Kenneth and I already know what a good swimmer you are. We just need to train this lot." He gestures to the pool. A cough is forcing its way out of my throat and I can't hold it back this time.

"It's not that bad, really." I managed to get out when I finish but Coach Kenneth is shaking his head. Clearly not buying into my lie.

"McClain, I'm sending you home. Go shower, change, get some rest. You need it. It's just the first practice. This doesn't mean we're benching you for the season or that you're still not the Captain. We just need you to get better." But what if I never get better? What if this disease kills me? Then I wouldn't have to worry about my scholarship, or what I want to get a degree in, or anything really. I'd be fucking dead.

"Okay coach." I said, giving in. There was nothing I could do. We could stand here and argue some more but I wouldn't win. My limbs ached. My throat felt raw. Everyone could tell that I was sick. I just wouldn't admit it.

* * *

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Hey dude is you** **r** **roommate in your room?**   
**Can I come over?**

_Keithy Boy_   
_Uhh no he's not and sure Lance._

I don't know why I texted Keith. Maybe because I knew Hunk was still in class and Pidge would be off studying with her friends somewhere. Maybe it's because there is nobody else I really feel like seeing right now; not even Aurora who I had been kind of avoiding ever since I asked her what she would do if I was in love with her. I think she can tell that I wasn't just being weird, that I was actually trying to figure something out but so far, I don't think she's put together my questions and my illness.

Keith was one of the only people I could talk to and not have him ask me what was wrong. He doesn't deal with feelings. He avoids them like the plague. So I'm just going to try to joke around with him and complain for maybe twenty minutes until I feel better and then just go do homework or something and wallow about how I was going to loose everything I hold near and dear to my heart.

I leaned against the doorframe for his room and knocked slowly. "It's open Lance!" Keith shouts. I open the door and see Keith sitting on his bed, leaning up against the wall. He's reading a book. The window next to him is wide open, letting in a chilling breeze and blowing the curtains around as well as his hair. "Hey, what's up?" He asked, closing his book and moving to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Nothing." I say closing the door and dropping my duffle bag down.

"You just come from swim?" He asks, eyeing my bag.

"Yeah, well, no they kicked me out." Keith frowns as I flop onto his floor.

"Don't lay down there, come sit up here with me. We've never vacuumed this floor." But I'm too lazy to get up now. Sometimes, it's really hard for me to move once I've laid down. Keith holds his hand out to me, giving me a funny look until I take it and with his help, I manage to stand. He scoots to the edge of his bed and gestures for me to sit so I do. We're nearly shoulder to shoulder. "What's wrong? Something's clearly eating you up inside." I cough into my arm as Keith says this. "Come on Lance, you can talk to me you know." He touches my shoulder lightly and I look over at him with a sigh. So much for him not dealing with feelings.

"I'm screwing everything up again." I murmur.

"Again? What do you mean?" I shrugged.

"I got sent home from swim practice because of this dumb cold." I grumbled. "I couldn't stop coughing and Coach doesn't want me getting the other guys sick. They practically kicked me out of the building."

"Well, maybe you should go to the doctors like everyone's been suggesting. You've had that cough since December dude. You should get your chest checked out." I smirked.

"Are you a doctor now?" I asked. "Want to check my heartbeat?" Keith clears his throat and looks away. His hand slides off my shoulder.

"I'm just saying Lance. Maybe somethings messed up with your lungs." He was spot on. "Or your throat." Another hit and run. "You can't just keep coughing like that." Three for three. Matt thinks if I keep coughing like this I'll strain my vocal chords and maybe even permanently damage them.

"I've had it for this long. I'm sure I'll be fine." I said, trying to sound optimistic. Keith didn't look convinced though. My eyes moved down to his neck where something glinted in the light streaming in through the window. I grinned. "You're wearing the necklace I got you." Keith looked down at his chest and pulled the lion head out of his shirt.

"I told you I would." Keith said as I picked it up off his chest. The metal was warm in my hand and I smiled a little.

"Lance..." Keith began but the door to the room opened and Keith and I turned to look at his roommate, Mark.

"Hey." He says nonchalantly as I drop Keith's necklace. Mark nudges my bag with his foot and I purse my lips, beginning to stand and hating the way my joints cracked as I did. It never used to do that before I got sick.

"I'd better go back to my room." I tell Keith as I watch Mark drop his bag off from the corner of my eye. "I have to do some homework and complain to Hunk about my sad, swim-less life." Keith smiles a little.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow my man." I say, grabbing up my bag and opening the door to their room again. Keith waves goodbye and I give him half a salute as I close the door. I sigh heavily as I begin to head out of the building. God, I wish I could just figure out who the hell I was in love with so I could put all this shit behind me.

* * *

I was currently throwing up a flower in Matt, Allura, and Shiro's bathroom and trying to be as fucking quiet as possible so I wouldn't worry anyone. I was shaking with the effort, doubled over and on my knees in front of the toilet. I was glad Allura likes to clean so much otherwise this would be more disgusting than it already is. I gripped the porcelain edge of the sink as I finally managed to get the fucking flower out of my throat.

Blood dropped down my chin as I spit out a stray petal and I wiped at it with the back of my hand as I waited to regain some of my energy so I could stand up. I winced as I leaned up against the wall. I kind of felt like crying. I felt helpless. I didn't want this to continue. I'd rather just die at this point than continue suffering like this.

Eventually, I stood, shut the lid of the toilet and flushed the flower and blood out of existence. Out of sight, out of mind. I washed my hands carefully in the sink and splashed some water on my face. When I finally exited the bathroom, Hunk was leaning up against the wall across from the door. He smiled at me meekly, holding out an aspirin and some water. I smiled. The aspirin helped with the pain in my limbs and with my headaches so I took it gratefully.

"Thanks buddy." I said with a grin, as I finished chugging the water.

"You should really stop trying to pretend that everything is fine." Hunk says softly.

"Everything is fine Hunk. We've crossed two more people off the list today. Eventually, we'll figure this all out." Jeremy and Aurora were checked off and so were several of the people from my classes that I was semi-interested in. I just didn't feel anything when I talked to them. Actually, I was kind of afraid I wouldn't feel anything with anyone. What if I got to the end of the list and I still continued to cough up flowers. Wasn't there a better way to get rid of this disease?

Hunk and I walked back to the living room, following the sound of Keith and Pidge's laughter. Shiro was sitting in his arm chair, his head in his palm as he smiled at Allura and Matt who we're currently making fools out of themselves by seeing how many marshmallows they could stuff into their mouths without choking.

"Twelve!" Pidge cried out for her brother as he managed to stuff another marshmallow into his already full cheeks.

"Eleven! Come on Allura you can do it!" Keith encouraged.

"You guys should've used smaller marshmallows not these jumbo ones." Shiro said with a shake of his head.

"Mmffm shfm mrmm mu mummbu mammow." Allura said.

"What?" Pidge asked with a laugh. "Thirteen!" Matt looked like he was dying s little.

"I think she said Matt shouldn't have dared me to use jumbo marshmallows." I translated. Allura pointed at me aggressively and did the thumbs up sign. I grinned, amazed that I had gotten it right. Allura then made the cutting motion across her neck as she tried to close her marshmallow filled mouth.

"She's tapped out." Pidge shouted, high-fiving Matt aggressively as he began to try to chew the massive lump of marshmallows in his mouth.

"Okay well I'm never letting you two do this again." Shiro said, grabbing the bag of marshmallows much to Pidge's protest who wanted to eat a couple on her own. Shrio rolled his eyes playfully but held the bag back out to her. Pidge reached in and grabbed four marshmallows and Keith did the same. Shiro offered Hunk and I marshmallows but I declined. Sugary foods seemed to aggravate the flowers. Same with citrus and spicy food.

"Can we watch a movie now?" Pidge asked, standing as she chewed on half a marshmallow. "I believe it's my turn to pick."

"You gonna put on more documentaries." Keith asked.

"At least they're interesting documentaries." I said, sitting down on the couch next to Keith, Hunk on my left side.

"Yeah, I'll give you that much Pidge." Keith agreed leaning into the sofa and holding out one of the marshmallows in his hand to me. I didn't want to take it. I knew it would make me cough but Keith was smiling so widely I felt compelled to take it. As Pidge turned on the TV, Matt and Allura were finally able to speak, and the conversation about documentaries continued. I bit into the soft fluffy food. Immediately, I felt that familiar tickle in the back of my throat.


	43. The Return

_Playlist: Reverse - SomeKindaWonderful_

**_After_ **

If it would get them to shut up about him... I was going to text Jason and ask him to meet. Just because I liked him last year doesn't mean a damn thing. I was _over_ him. I _hated_ him. I didn't _ever_ want to see his face again. But Pidge was insistent. I had to talk to everyone I liked, everyone I flirted with. I had to figure out who was killing me.

**Lancey-Lance**   
**Hey, it's Lance. Can we meet up Jason?**

_Giant Fucking Asshole_   
_Sure._ _... But Why?_

**Lancey-Lance**   
**The water fountain outside the C dorms.**   
**I'll see you in ten minutes.**

_Giant Fucking Asshole_   
_Okay I guess..._ _See you there_

It was sixty degrees outside but I wasn't wearing a jacket. It was too fucking warm. This fever was only getting worse. No matter how much water I drank, or how many cold showers I took, my temperature held at 99 degrees. So far it was just uncomfortable. But Matt said if I continued to stay this warm it wouldn't be good. "Jesus Lance it's freezing out here. Shouldn't you have a jacket on?" I looked up as Jason walked towards me.

"I don't need a jacket." I said staring at him long and hard. He still had really nice hair. It looked even better than the last time I saw him I think. His skin was still flawless. He was still impossibly tall. Yeah, he was hot but I didn't like him. I wasn't in love with this dick. If he was the one killing me, I think I'd rather just die.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jason asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

"You don't like me right?" I asked, though I wasn't sure why. But there was no way in hell I was going to pull what I did with Aurora and ask him what he would do if I was in love it him. I didn't need to fuel his ego anymore than I was right now by meeting up with him at nine o'clock at night. Jason huffed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why are we talking about this Lance. It was almost two years ago. I was surprised you still had my number."

"I just wanted to make sure if you ever texted me, I would know who the fuck you were and..." I stop and shake my head. I don't have to explain jackshit to him. "Just answer the question Jason. It's simple. You don't like me right?" He sighed.

"No. I don't Lance. What's this about?" Instead of answering, I started to cough into the crook of my arm. God please don't let another flower come up. Not right now. Not when I'm trying to get answers. "Are you okay Lance? You look sick." Jason asked, arching an eyebrow at me. He didn't look concerned though, just bored.

"I'm fine." I snapped at him, discreetly spitting flower petals into my hand and shoving them into my pocket. "That's all I wanted to ask. I just had to make sure of something." I started to walk away.

"Make sure of what Lance?" Jason demanded. "You're not still hung up on me are you?" I started to laugh which nearly made me choke on another flower.

"Of course!" I shouted. "Of course you're so arrogant that you would think that. No Jason. I fucking hate you but my friends seem to think that I'm not over you because..." I stopped. I didn't have to explain myself to this asshole. I didn't have to tell him anything. I couldn't tell him anything anyways. He'd think I was crazy. "Because _nothing_. It's not important and you wouldn't care anyways."

"It was obviously important enough if you came out here to talk to me!" Jason said to my back as I continued to walk away. "Are you dating Keith?" That question made me turn around to glare at him.

"Fuck off Jason. I don't have to tell you shit." He shrugged a little, hands in his jacket pockets.

"So I guess you're not then." He smirked a little. "He is really cute. I tried to get him to go out with me but he wouldn't take the bait." I turned back to face him fully. Why was he such a dick?

"You're such a fucking _loser_ Jason." I said, balling my fists at my side.

"I was pretty disappointed actually. He looks like a good fuck." Even though I was sicker than a dog, and coughing up flowers from some imaginary disease, as soon as he said that I swore that I gained the strength of Superman. I launched myself at him, punching Jason in the face. He was so startled I nearly knocked him to the ground. I kneed him in the chest and punched him in the face again and this time he really did crumple to the concrete. Gripping the collar of his shirt, I geared up to punch him again.

"Don't fucking talk about him like that!" I shouted at him. Jason hit me in the chest and it sort of felt like my lungs collapsed on me as I struggled to catch my breath. _Oh fuck_. I could practically feel the flowers working their way up my throat. Before I could stop myself, I coughed up not one but _two_ bloody flowers into the palm of my hands.

"Lance!" Jason exclaimed, startled by this sudden turn of events. I was bent over, kneeling on the ground and he looked like he was about to help me up somehow, even though my hands were covered in my own blood. I threw the flowers in his face and he cried out in disgust, backpedaling away from me as I stood and prepared to run. "Lance! What the fuck!" Jason shouted. I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand as I continued to run away from him. My lungs felt like they were on fire and the only thing I could think about as I ran away from him was, _I never want to see his fucking face again._

* * *

"So... you confronted Jason." I sighed as I finished chugging my second bottle of water. When I got back to the room I was out of breath and wheezing. I had to gesture for Hunk to get me some water which he did, even unscrewing the caps for me like I was a kid. I felt so horrible, so sick that I felt like I couldn't speak until I got some water in me.

"Yes Hunk." I was finally able to say, feeling a little bit better now as I crushed the plastic bottle in my hand. "And it was awful. I'm deleting that assholes number. I never want to see him again." I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket. My hands were shaking and I could see dried blood covering a portion of my skin. Hunk noticed it too.

"What happened? Are you bleeding?" Hunk demands, trying to grab my hand to take a look at it. I move away from him though and Hunk pauses, looking a little hurt that I don't want him near me.

"I'm fine. It's my blood, not his, though I wish it was his." I muttered. The color drained from Hunk's face.

"You coughed up a flower in front of him, didn't you." I bite down on my bottom lip as I get to Jason's contact name. As I expected, he hasn't tried calling or texting to ask what the fuck is wrong with me. Maybe he's trying to rationalize what just happened. Maybe he thinks he's gone a little crazy. I delete his number.

"Not one flower." I admit. "It was two."

"Two! Lance, this isn't good. You need to see a doctor." I shake my head, pocketing my phone and walking towards our bathroom to wash my hands.

"This is a medical phenomenon Hunk. What if they try to rip out my lungs? Cut open my chest and dissect me? Have you ever heard of the Hanahaki Disease before now?" I ask, turning on the water and letting the cool stream wash over my hands.

"No but.. it could be like... An underground illness. Like maybe it's real and people are embarrassed that love is killing them and..." he shakes his head, looking frustrated. "I don't know Lance. But going to the doctors is better than suffering with this."

"This will all be over soon Hunk, I swear. We're halfway through the list."

"But Lance..."

"Dude, I'm going to be fine." I interrupt him as I finish up in the bathroom, wiping my hands on a towel. Hunk isn't looking at me. I think he knows that part of me is lying. I don't know if I'm going to be fine. I just hope that I am. "I threw the flowers at him." I say, turning off the bathroom light. Hunk makes a face as he finally catches my eye. He looks grossed out.

"You did what?" Hunk demanded. I smiled a little. I knew that would get his attention.

"I threw the flowers at him, blood and everything. He looked disgusted." Hunk shook his head at me, trying to look more concerned then amused.

"He could tell people Lance."

"Who would believe him? I barely believe it and I'm the one dying."

"I don't know but he could spread rumors..."

"What kind of rumor is that? ' _Hey, this random dude I went on a date with_ _once_ _coughed up flowers_ _right in front of me.'_ people will think he's insane." Hunk purses his lips. "Hey, it's no big deal."

"If you say so." Hunk says with a sigh.

"I do. Everything's going to be fine Hunk." But five minutes later, when I cough up another flower while I'm in the shower, I realize that my time _is_ running out. If I don't figure out whose killing me before I reach the final stages of this disease... Well, I've always been afraid to die.


	44. Denial

_Playlist: Fool' Gold - One Direction_

**_After_ **

I stared at Lance's serene features as he laid on his bed. He had just fallen asleep a couple of minutes ago. He doesn't get much sleep now-a-days because he's always waking up to have to cough up flowers. He probably thinks I didn't hear him cough up ond when he was in the shower. I feel so attuned to his cough now though, that he could probably be a mile away and I'd still be able to pinpoint his location just from hearing him cough.

Running my hands through my hair raggedly, I try to will myself to fall asleep as Lance has done but there's too many things running through my mind. _This isn't working. The list isn't helping_. I'm slowly beginning to realize that Lance isn't actually in love with anyone. I should know, I'm his goddamn roommate and not only that, I'm his best friend. He would tell me if he was in love with someone. He'd be shouting it from the rooftops and he definitely wouldn't keep it to himself if it was killing him. He's not that dumb.

So how is it that he's still dying?

I grab my phone off the dresser and pull up the web searches I've bookmarked. I read through at least one of them before I go to sleep every night. It doesn't necessarily make me feel better but it does make me sleepy. I rub at my tired eyes, beginning to reread the Wikipedia page on the Hanahaki Disease. Pidge and I have both tried relentlessly to find more lore on it but it's always the same thing.

Person A gets the Hanahaki Disease.

Person A tells Person B; the one they're in love with.

Person B _doesn't_ love them back and Person A dies.  
Or  
Person B _does_ love them back and Person A is cured.

Cured how, I'm not sure because if it was just as simple as Person B admitting to Person A that they love them, then hell I was ready to grab every single person on that list and make them confess their love to Lance, just to see if something would happen. Maybe just hearing the confession is enough. Maybe Person B doesn't actually have to be in love with Lance. How is the stupid disease going to know the difference? I squeeze my eyes shut, and rub my temple. This disease isn't even supposed to be real so why is it messing up our lives?

My eyes snap open when Lance starts to cough. He merely turns over in his bed though and faces the wall. I hear him murmur something under his breath. I think it's Spanish but he's so quite I can't tell. He warned me when we first became roommates that he talks in his sleep sometimes. I told him I didn't care because I snored. Lance just laughed. " _Oh please, that won't be a big deal. I slept in the same room with two brothers who snore like thunder. It'll be fine."_

Lance doesn't smile like he did back then. I really do think that Jason messed with his head somehow. He got under his skin. I've never really liked people before or been in love but Lance falls hard and getting crushed by the first guy you go on a date with couldn't have felt nice. I knew I shouldn't have pushed him to go see Jason. I swear, if I ever see him for myself I'm going to punch him in the face. Not just for hurting Lance our freshman year but for hurting him tonight, making him cough up flowers. Jason can rot in hell for all I care.

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Hey, you still awake?_

**The Hunkster**   
**Yeah, what's up?**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _How's Lance doing? He texted me earlier saying to cross Jason off the list and then he didn't explain anything._

I sigh a little and give Pidge a summary of what happened. She had probably been doing homework when Lance texted her and then gotten too distracted to grill him properly about what happened. And Lance, being Lance, didn't explain himself probably because he just doesn't want to talk about it.

 _PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _He did not !!!_

**The Hunkster**   
**Oh but he did.** **He threw the flowers in Jason's face.**   
**I told him it was a bad idea, Jason could tell someone but Lance doesn't care.**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _...._  
 _We have to figure out who he's in love with._

**The Hunkster**   
**The list isn't working Pidge.**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _It has to Hunk! We don't have a Plan B!_

**The Hunkster**   
**I know but it's getting us nowhere.**

_PidgeyPoo_ 🐦  
 _Well what else should we do?_

**The Hunkster**   
**I don't know if there is anything we can do.**

Pidge and I said goodnight after that. We don't like discussing the Hanahaki Disease for too long because it stresses both of us out. I close out of the Wikipedia page and take a deep breath, finally feeling tired enough to fall asleep. I turn over, the same feeling of dread and hopelessness watching over me. I don't know what else to do. Lance isn't in love with anyone, that much I know, so why does he have the Hanahaki Disease?


	45. Should I Be Worried?

_Playlist: Parallel - Heffron Drive_

**_After_ **

I tried to hum a small tune as I made my way to film class. I had a blanket in my backpack and some of mine and Keith's favorite candy as well. We started to switch off days on who would bring snacks. It was a nice setup we had going.

Walking into the classroom today, I smiled upon seeing Keith already in our usual spot. He was engrossed in his phone though and didn't notice me. As I walked over, I ruffled his long hair, messing it up and making him swat my hands away as I laughed. "Hey buddy, what's up?"

"Why do you always do that?" Keith grumbled, raking his fingers through his hair to fix the mess I made of it.

"Because I like seeing the look on your face." I grinned. "You always look so frazzled." Keith rolls his eyes and goes back to his phone as I rummage through my backpack to get his sour gummy worms. When I got him just regular gummy worms last time, he pouted and made a big fuss about it so I made sure to get him his favorite kind this time.

I was getting ready to make fun of him for being a big pouty baby last week but at that same moment, I felt the velvety touch of petals against my throat and I started to cough. Fuck. Not again. I had already had to spit out a flower into a trash can on the way over here. I continued to cough, trying to force the flower to remain in my lungs. I didn't care if it was chocking me, I couldn't let Keith see what was happening to me. He frowned slightly, eyes filled with concern.

"You _really_ need to check out that cough Lance." I smiled.

"I'm fine Keith. Nothing to worry about." I said with a shrug, holding out the bag of gummy worms to him. "And don't worry, I made sure to get your dumb sour gummy worms."

"They're not dumb and they're better than regular gummy worms."

"Sure they are, because they're just so much more different than the ones I brought two weeks ago." Keith frowned.

"Those suck Lance." He whined. "These ones taste better." I pulled out my own bag of licorice and shook my head at him.

"Remember how Aurora got you high off your ass last year?" Keith grinned a little.

"Yeah, that was fun."

"You were so weird though. I've never seen you smile so much before then."

"I smile. You're just not always looking at me." Keith said dismissively, tearing open the package in his hands.

"Oh I'm not sure about that. I'm always trying to make you laugh with my dumb jokes." Keith snorts.

"And I don't laugh _because_ they're dumb."

"Bite me Kogane. I'm hilarious and you're too stubborn to admit that." He bites a gummy worm in half, staring at me the whole time.

"Maybe." He grinned. The two of us turned towards our teacher as class started up and he began to explain what movie we were watching today and why. And because I'm an idiot and because I really wanted to watch this movie with Keith, I ended up having to run out of the room halfway through. I went straight for the bathroom where I threw up two perfect looking flowers and a mouthful of blood.

* * *

"Lance, buddy. You awake in there?" Came Keith's far away voice. I felt him shake my shoulder lightly. "Lance." He called again. I slowly opened my eyes to find Keith staring down at me. Had I fallen asleep?? On his bed??? What the fuck... "I cant believe you fell asleep on me dude."

"Studying for tests is boring." I said, putting my arm back over my eyes to block out not only the sunlight streaming in through the window but Keith's violet eyes. It was Saturday afternoon and I should be at swim practice but instead, I was with Keith, in his dorm room, studying.

"Yeah but we're done now, or I'm done now I should say since you didn't really help me study." I heard him begin to organize his things. Papers were shuffling, his chair squeaked and the soft music playing from his phone shut off. Maybe that's what made me drift off to sleep. Laying in his bed, listening to soft music, coupled with the fact that I haven't really had a good nights sleep in a while is probably why I passed the fuck out. "Come on dude. We're meeting our friends for lunch."

"What?" I murmured, moving my arm to look at him again. He was smiling at me, probably because I looked stupidly sleepy but I couldn't remember us making plans to meet up with our friends.

"Yeah, Tristen called. She knew we were hanging out so she said we should get lunch with her, Sarah and Pidge." I nodded my head slowly, sitting up on his bed and running my hands through my hair tiredly. Keith handed me my backpack and I began shoving my things into it as Keith stood and waited for me. "Are you okay?" He asked as I yawned.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, trying to smile.

"I don't know you're just not yourself lately." I stood and Keith opened the door. I looked my arms through the straps of my backpack as we headed down the hallway.

"Then who am I?" I joked. "An alien? Several gophers stacked on top of each other wearing people's clothing?" Keith started to laugh. "Mothman?" I question. He elbowed me in the ribs and it made me want to cough up a flower, or two, or three.

"I tell you about my obsession with him as a kid _one time_ and you won't let fucking go of it."

"Because it's hilarious Keith, my man." I said bumping shoulders with him. "I've never heard of anyone who was obsessed with Mothman before I met you."

"Well then you need to go to West Virginia sometimes because they're crazy about him."

"How many times have you been there?"

"Once, as a kid. We passed through the town. Mom thought the giant statue they had would scare me but I thought it was fascinating." I started to laugh.

"Oh man, I can see you now, all wide eyed and drooling over some bug-eyed dude with wings." Keith blushed a little, smiling. "Is that when you found out you were into guys? I've seen pictures of that statue. Mothman has fucking abs." He rolled his eyes at me as we made our way outside.

"Don't be gross dude. No I didn't realize I liked guys at that age. I figured it out in high school."

"What happened? For me it was Justin Timberlake, in middle school." Keith smirked.

"Ah yes, the Sexyback era. But uh no for me it was Christopher Lee. He was this really hot guy on the basketball team. I almost joined just so I could talk to him but I suck at sports." I laughed.

"When did you come out? Was it in high school?" Keith shrugged.

"Yeah basically. I don't really remember telling my parents or my brother like "by the way I like dudes" it just sort of happened I think. I brought a guy home, told my brother we were dating and that was that."

"I didn't come out until last year. Early January I think, maybe February." Keith gave me a weird look.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I was really nervous about it in high school. I live in a bit of a conservative area. Coming to college was kind of freeing but I've only been on a date with one guy," Keith snickered.

"Yeah, for someone who is a serial flirter, you'd think you'd get more dates."

"Hey I am not a serial flirt." I argued as we finally reached the cafeteria. "I can get a boyfriend or a girlfriend if I want. I'm just choosing not to."

"Oh is that what we're calling rejection now-a-days?" I shoved Keith's shoulder and he laughed as we made our way over to our regular table.

"Finally! What were you to doing? We've been waiting for like ten minutes." Tristen said as we sat down in the two open seats next to each other. Pidge was already eating a salad, Sarah had some sort of chicken dish in front of her and Tristen had a sandwich and some chips.

"Lance fell asleep. It was hard to wake him." Keith said, nudging me a little.

"Plus Keith was talking my ear off and being annoying all the way over here."

"Oh shut up we were bonding." Keith said with a roll of his eyes.

"I wouldn't call discussing Mothman bonding." Keith snorted as I smiled at him.

"You're both dumb. Now go get food. We were eating so peacefully before you came." Pidge said, before taking a sip of her drink. Keith stood up but I remained seated.

"Are you coming?" Keith asked. I waved him away.

"In a little bit. Still kind of sleepy." I said, slumping down into my seat a little, resting my head in my arms on the table. Keith touched my shoulder lightly and walked away as Tristen and Sarah continued their previous conversation about homework or something. I glanced over at Pidge who had probably guessed why I hadn't moved. I hadn't crossed Tristen or Sarah off the list yet. But I never knew how to approach these conversations. For everyone I've just briefly encountered or flirted with, another short conversation was able to help me confirm that I didn't have feelings for them but with our friends... With our friends it was a lot harder.

"You okay Lance? You look a little spaced." Sarah asked with a wry smile. I pursed my lips and shrugged a little.

"I have a question for you guys." I said slowly.

"Okay, shoot." Tristen said.

"Do you guys like me?" Tristen scrunched up her nose, giving me a confused look.

"Of course Lance. What kind of question is that?"

"Do you want us to say no?" Sarah asked with a laugh. "Because we can say no if it'll lower your ego. You're not that _special_ to us Lancey-Lance." Her and Tristen snickered as Pidge pushed her salad around on her plate, not catching my eye.

"I'm serious guys. You like having me as a friend right?" They stopped laughing and their eyebrows furrowed, eyes filling with concern over my uncharacteristically serious tone.

"Lance." Tristen said softly, reaching across the table and taking my hand in hers. "Of course. You're our friend."

"We love you Lance." Sarah affirmed. _Am I in love with either you?_ I said to myself, staring at them long and hard. I couldn't be. I didn't feel anything for them other than friendship.

"Why does everyone look so serious?" Keith asked, coming back to the table and sitting next to me. Tristen laughs, letting go of my hand.

"Lance asked if we liked him. Such a baby, always needing our attention." She teased. Pidge finally looked up at me and we shared a knowing look. I wanted to tell them. I wanted to fill them all in so badly but... I already felt horrible for making Pidge, Hunk and Matt swear not to tell anyone. The possibility of my death was eating them up alive. I didn't want to burden anyone else.

"You are a baby." Keith said, bumping shoulders with me lightly. "Now are you gonna go get food? You hardly ever eat anymore." That's because swallowing food was sometimes hard. Sometimes it aggravated my throat. Sometimes I threw up after I ate. It never made me feel any better though.

"I'm not that hungry." I said with a shrug.

"Well if you're sick, you should eat. Do you want me to get you soup? I think they have soup at the counter." I shake my head and Keith frowns. "I'm getting you soup and you're eating it." He says, already getting up. Sarah whispers something to Tristen that makes her giggle as we watch him leave.

"You're annoying." I called out to him but Keith just turned around and smiled. I stuck my tongue out at him before laying my head back down on my arms. Keith comes back a couple minutes later with a bowl of soup. It looked like tomato, which is one of my least favorites. He also brought some toast on a plate, butter packets sitting next to it. "Bread?" I questioned.

"My Mom would always make me soup and toast when I was sick. Not this kind of soup but same principal." He said, setting them down in front of me. "Please eat." Keith said, putting his hand on my shoulder as he sat back down. I couldn't help but smile at the worry written all over his face.

"Okay." He smiled.

"Should I be worried? You two are actually being civil to one another." Sarah said with a slight smirk on her face.

"I was just about to say, damn Keith why don't you show us some of that love and affection." Tristen continued before her and Sarah fell into a fit of giggles. I started to eat the toast Keith had brought me as he looked down at his food.

"Get sick and then maybe he'll do shit like this." I said, mouth half full of bread as I spoke.

"Maybe." Tristen said vaguely, still smiling at Sarah. Jeez what's with them? They're acting really funny.

"Thanks Keith." I said to him finally.

"Of course Lance."


	46. Smothered

_Playlist: Miserable At Best - Mayday Parade_

**_After_ **

My back hurt so badly I kind of wanted to break it just so I wouldn't feel a damn thing. I was currently lying on the floor of Shiro, Allura and Matt's apartment, trying to pay attention to what Pidge and Matt were playing on the TV. It was Galaxy Fighters 3 and I had been _dying_ to play the game for a really long time but my eyes hurt and my throat was sore and just simply breathing made me feel nauseated so I couldn't exactly focus on the graphics or swirling colors in the game. Keith nudged me with his foot.

"Why are you laying in the ground dude." I glanced up at him and the weird expression on his face. He was wearing dark skinny jeans and light gray shirt with some writing on it that I hadn't bothered to read. His motorcycle jacket was laying on the back of the couch behind him and his hair was currently tied up. It was something him and Aurora realized they could do with it. His bangs still kind of hang in his eyes but every now and then, he does pull some of his hair back into a little ponytail. I've been reallt tempted to cut it off because I'm kind of an asshole.

"Because I'm tired." I complained.

"Why'd you come over then. You could've slept at your dorm." Keith pointed out.

"And miss out on all the fun?" I said half jokingly as I gestured around us before dropping my arms back onto the carpet. Keith holds his hand out to me and I arch an eyebrow at him.

"Don't lay down on the ground Lance. What's with you and the floor?"

"We have a pretty good relationship. I trip and the floor always catches me." Keith snickered as I took his hand. With his help, I managed to stand and moved to sit on the opposite end of the couch, pulling my legs up so I could sit cross legged. Hunk shot me a look from the arm chair but I casually waved him away and he turned back to the TV as Pidge shouted at Matt for air support. 

"Lance have you gone to the doctors yet?" Allura called out from the kitchen where her and Shiro were making dinner.

"Nope! I talked to my mom and we don't have insurance or anything for me to go to the doctors. We're all just hoping this thing will go away." I explained, trying to avoid coughing as I did this. It was a lie of course. We did have insurance but I never called my mom. How am I going to explain that I have a fictional disease? God my head was killing me. My vision kept swimming. I heard her begin to walk towards me and I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.

"Are you still warm?" She asked, putting her hand to my forehead. "Does your head hurt Lance?" I grunted a little, not saying anything. Matt was laughing too loud. The sound effects from the game were deafening. The smell of food wafting out from the kitchen was making me nauseous and Allura's cool hand against my forehead wasn't comforting me. "What's wrong Lance?" I don't know what came over me. I snapped, my eyes flying open as I shouted at her.

"Stop mothering me Allura! I'm not your damn kid." She pulled back her hand, startled by my sudden outburst. Behind her, standing at the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, I could see Shiro glaring at me. I clutched my head in my hands and sighed. Jesus what's wrong with me. She was just trying to help. "Fuck. Allura, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm just..." God fucking damnit was I going to cry? It was too quiet in this room now. What the fuck.

"Lance." Allura said softly her hand on my shoulder as she sat on the couch to give me a hug. I hugged her back tightly, tears silently trickling down my cheeks. My head felt like it was going to explode.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'm really sorry. My head hurts and I got irrationally angry."

"Shiro can you get him an aspirin please." She asks her boyfriend as she rubs my back lightly. It's exactly what my mom would do if she were here. _Fuck_. I wanted to go home. If I was going to die. I wanted to see my family. I didn't want this stupid imaginary disease to kill me. "You need to rest Lance." Allura tells me as I begin to let go of her, even though I don't want to. I cough violently into my shirt but nothing comes out. Is that a bad sign? A good sign? Allura touches my cheek lightly when I finish as Shiro appears again.

"You can sleep in our room if you want." Shiro offers as Allura stands. I shake my head. God, and Matt, only knows what they've done in that room.

"No I feel like that's an invasion of privacy. I can just sleep out here." I say, gesturing around the living room. "You guys don't have to stop playing." I tell Pidge and Matt who have paused the video game to stare at me with concern. They probably won't feel like playing anymore though. I start to cough again and Shiro holds out a cup of water to me. I dutifully take the cup, as well as the pill in his open palm. I put the pill in my mouth and then down the cup of water.

"It's still gonna be kind of loud though buddy." Hunk says as Shiro squeezes my shoulder. Hunk is sitting in Shiro's chair, leaning all the way forward to look at me. "You can sleep in Matt's room." I start to cough again and I hear Pidge breath in sharply as everyone watches me.

"Yeah, dude I don't mind." Matt says. I shake my head, clearing my throat as I grab a pillow and flop down onto Keith's lap on the couch. He stares at me in surprise as I stretch out my legs and shift to my side.

"I can move." He suggests. I shake my head. My eyelids are already too heavy. I'll probably fall asleep soon.

"It's fine Keith." I murmur. "But if I get heavy you can shove me off." I tell him with a smile. Keith smiles back, touching my hair softly.

"You're an airhead Lance. You're not heavy." I laugh a little, his gentle touch soothing me.

"I'm sorry for being a dick." I murmur.

"It's okay Lance. Just go to sleep." Allura tells me as Keith continues to run his fingers through my hair. Jocelyn used to do this for me when I was sick. I miss her so goddamn much. I almost want to cry again but before that happens, I fall asleep.

* * *

"Don't wake him." Someone hisses. "He looks like a goddamn baby it'd be a shame to wake him up and have him go back to being his annoying self." Pidge says to someone in a fond and teasing voice. Are they talking about me?

"I can carry him to Matt's car guys. It's no big deal. He's already sleeping on top of me." Is that Keith talking? Shit I need to wake up before somebody picks me up. My whole body felt really heavy though and I was too drowsy. I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"He might be heavy Keith. I can do it." Hunk argues. Ah yes, I've always wanted people to fight over carrying me. But I don't want anybody picking my ass up and carrying me downstairs. I'm not six anymore so I try to wake myself up.

"Oh shit. Hey buddy, you awake?" Keith asks quietly. I groan a little and rub my eyes. My whole body fucking hurts. I took aspirin. Why do I feel so weird? He puts his hand to my forehead again as I open my eyes.

"I'm fine Keith." I tell him.

"You're really not Lance. You're burning up." I struggle to sit up. Before, when I had first fallen asleep, I barely had my pillow against Keith's left leg. Somehow though, I had moved farther up. The pillow was leaning up against the armrest and I had virtually been laying asleep in his lap. Did he not move? Not try to get me off of him? Was that his arm I felt draped over me before I moved?

"What time is it?" I asked, standing with Hunk's help. He had held his hand out to me and I took it. The room spun a little as I righted myself.

"It's nearly eleven. You four need to head back to campus." Matt said, putting on his jacket. "There's still classes tomorrow." Class? Fuck. I really wanted to skip.

"And I packed you some dinner." Allura said, producing a container filled with whatever the hell they were making earlier. "We tried to wake you up to eat but you were knocked out. Hunk thought it was best if we didn't wake you. He said you haven't been sleeping well." I glanced over at Hunk. He's not wrong but how did he know I've been tossing and turning at night; waking up to throw up flowers? I don't keep him up do I? 

"What about you?" I asked Keith. "I had you trapped didn't I?"

"I ate on campus." Keith said, pulling on his jacket. Now why did it look like he was lying?

"Either way, I made two containers for both of you." Allura said, handing a second container to Keith. He smiled at Allura as I looked around for my shoes.

"You drove right Keith? You don't need a ride?" Matt asked.

"Yeah I... My motorcycle is out front." He said with a pause, staring at me as I started to cough pretty hard.

"What?" I asked him. He was looking at me so strangely. It was weird. Keith shook his head and touched my shoulder lightly as he grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter.

"Nothing just... Go to the nurse on campus Lance. I know you said you don't have insurance but the school doesn't need that just to check up on you." I nod. He's right. I should at least do that, get a nurses opinion on this situation.

"Alright buddy, I will."

"Hurry up you three or I'll leave your asses here." Matt says as I begin to put on my shoes. Pidge is shrugging on her jacket but Hunk looks ready to go.

"You wouldn't leave me behind I'm sick." I argue.

"Keith could take you back the fresh air might do you some good." I glance over at Keith. His helmet is under his arm and he's halfway out the door, glancing back at me.

"Naw. I'm tired. I'd fall off his motorcycle." Keith smiles a little and glances over at his brother and Allura.

"I'll see you guys later."

"See you later brother." Shiro says as Allura waves goodbye. Pidge, Hunk, Matt and I say goodbye too before we all make our way out of the apartment. Keith is hanging back a little so he can walk with us.

"Are any of you planning on going to that frat party this weekend? Aurora really wants me to go." He says with a shake of his head.

"Probably not." Matt says with a shrug. "I have a shit ton of homework to do."

"And I need to catch up on my reading." Pidge agrees. I don't join in on the conversation, just follow them all the way to the parking lot where Keith says goodbye. He does a handshake with Hunk that I didn't know they had before hugging Pidge and fist bumping Matt.

"I'll see you later buddy." He's holding his hand out to me and I take it.

"See ya Keith." He squeezes my hand lightly before letting go and putting his helmet on. All I can see now are his crazy bright eyes as he walks towards his motorcycle. I yawn and clutch the food Allura gave me tightly in my hands.

"Come on dude. You can eat in the car if you want." Matt suggests as he unlocks the doors to his Camry.

"With my bare hands like an animal?" I asked. Hunk and Pidge snickered.

"No, what kind of mom do you think Allura is? She defiantly gave you a plastic fork." Matt said. I opened the top of the container partly, and saw that he was right. A plastic fork sat on top of all the food and the smell of it made me unbearably hungry.

"Allura is _god sent_." I said as I got into his car, sliding into the seat.

"Yeah, Yeah buckle up and lets get out of here."


	47. A Crack In the Foundation

_Playlist: Spaces - One Direction_

**_After_ **

The phantom pains in my arm make me want to stretch out my fingers over and over, bend my arm at the elbow and clench my fists but since I can't actually do that, I'm left with massaging what's left of my right bicep and cringing at the slight tension in my muscles. "Shiro." Allura says softly. "Are you okay?" I glance over at her. She always worries about me when she sees me touching my arm. I don't know how many times I've cried over the fact that it's gone. How many times I've clung to her shirt because I can still _feel_ it, even though it's not there.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I'm really only tense because of Lance. He's so... different. Somethings clearly wrong. He would never snap at Allura like that. He sees her as an older sister and I know you argue with your siblings but Lance just isn't the type of person to yell and get frustrated. It's completely unlike him. "I'm just thinking about Lance." She sighs and comes to sit next to me.

"I'm really worried about him Shiro and I know those three are hiding something from us. Don't they know we just want to help?" We've known for a while now that Hunk, Pidge and Matt seem to all know something about Lance that we don't. What we can't figure out though is what's wrong. What changed? What happened? Why won't they tell us anything? Keith is just as clueless as us but, maybe even more so because he doesn't really think that anything is wrong with Lance. He also doesn't really think that the four of them keeping a secret from us isn't that bad of a thing.

"We have a secret too." Keith had argued a week back.

"Okay but your secret is different." Allura said. "You liking Lance isn't a bad thing." Keith blushed red.

"I don't _like_ him. I just think he's cute." Keith grumbled, making Allura laugh.

"Oh please. You've had a crush on him for forever now. Why don't you just tell him?" Allura had asked.

"I don't know. It's weird. I used to think he was super annoying."

"Allura thought I was annoying too." I said taking her hand. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Because you _are_ annoying Shiro and anyways, this is different. I don't think he sees me like that. It'd be awkward to tell him I like him."

"Oh come on!" Allura exclaimed. "Lance thinks your dumb brother is hot, he's bound to think the same of you." She said, leaving both Keith and I blushing messes as she laughed.

"Maybe they think we wouldn't understand." I tell Allura, coming back to her question. "We must be getting old." Allura laughs and bumps shoulders with me affectionately as she takes my prosthetic off the bed and moves to put it on the nightstand.

"I'm sure that's not it. It has to be something else. I just can't figure out what." She said, her forehead wrinkling as she began to think on the situation.

"Have you talked to Aurora? Jeremy? Maybe they know something."

"I have." Allura said lightly. "They know about as much as we do, which is nothing. It looks like it's just between the four of them. Hunk, Pidge, Matt and Lance." She touches her head lightly before beginning to undo the long braid she had made with her hair. I'm always amazed at how beautiful she is. Allura and I first met in an English class and I swore to god when I saw her for the first time my heart dropped. I've never really been nervous to talk to girls before, not because I'm super confident or anything but nobody has really got my heart racing like Allura has. "What?" She asked, finally noticing that I was staring at her.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how beautiful you are." She smiled, walking back towards me and cupping my face in her hands.

"You're pretty cute too you know?" She kisses me lightly before pressing a kiss to the bridge of my nose. Allura is one of the few people in the world I've told about what happened to me in Afghanistan. There are only two other women in the world who know all about my scars and the trauma I suffered. One of them is my mom, the other my therapist. I've told Keith a couple of things but I ultimately didn't want to scare him, especially since he wanted to join the air force. I'm glad he got kicked out of the Garrison though. I don't want him to have t go through some of the same shit I did.

"We have to do something about that brother of yours by the way." She said, beginning to get ready to go to bed.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, as she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Did you not notice the completely infatuated look he kept giving Lance? He let Lance sleep on him. He was touching his hair _forlornly_. I've never seen Keith look so open and happy before." I _had_ noticed that but I didn't exactly know how to help Keith. He had made Allura and I swear not to say anything to Lance, Pidge, Matt or anyone else that Lance was friends with about Keith's crush on him. I think Aurora and Tristen know that Keith likes Lance. Hell, maybe even Jeremy knows, but Keith refuses to tell Pidge or Hunk or Matt because they're "closer to Lance" which Allura got pretty offended by.

"We're close to him! He said he sees me like an older sister."

"But you're not _actually_ his sister." Allura huffed as Keith said this.

"Yeah, Keith's got it pretty bad." I admitted with a chuckle.

"I should try to figure out if Lance feels the same way. He hasn't really flirted or talked about anyone in a while has he?" Alllura asked. I shrugged, lying down on our bed and putting my arm behind my head.

"I don't think so but he could be keeping quiet about it."

"Well I'm going to find out." She says, coming out of the bathroom and turning off the light before jumping onto the bed next to me and making me laugh. "I think Keith and Lance would look so cute together." Allura admits, wrapping one arm around me and curling into my side. I put my arm down around her, rubbing her back lightly.

"Yeah, I think so too.


	48. Breathing In

_Playlist: Call Out My Name - The Weekend_

**_After_ **

"Okay, breathe in for me." I took a long ragged breath, the air tickling my throat as it did, making me want to cough. "And breath out." Exhaling was even worse, it was easier for the flowers to come out that way. I coughed again as soon as she moved her stethoscope away from my back.

"Well?" I asked through a cough. "What's making me cough?" She sighed, seemingly perplexed.

"It sounds like you have fluid in your lungs Lance. It's not that bad right now but it could get worse."

"You sound unsure, like there isn't actually fluid in my lungs." She clucks her tongue.

"That's the thing... I can't really tell. This is a different sort of sound Lance. It's just... I don't know what else it could be. You should go see a doctor. They'll be able to run more tests than I can."

"What if I don't have a good insurance plan that will cover it?" I asked. "My parents live out of state and I was hoping this wasn't anything major that might make them worry."

"They're your parents, they're going to worry regardless and hopefully I'm wrong altogether and you don't have fluid in your lungs. Like I said, it sounded different. So I strongly suggest you go see a doctor or a local clinic okay Lance?" I nod slowly, grabbing my jacket off the chair and my backpack off the floor. "Is there anything else you need help with?l she asks, moving to open the door.

"Nope, that's it. Thank you though."

"Alright Lance, you take care then." She says with a cheerful misleading before heading down a different hallway from the one I need to take to get out of here. I sigh heavily, wondering what the hell I should do. If I went to a doctor and they also couldn't conclude if it was fluid or not, would thy want to scan my chest? Would they be able to see that flowers were snaking their way up my lungs? Coughing into my arm, I slowly made my way out of the building.

* * *

"Lance!" I hear someone call out to me as I'm making my way back towards the dorms. Across the quad I can see Keith, waving and I smile, waving back as he jogs over, pulling his headphones down around his neck. "Hey, what's up?" He asks, still grinning. We fist bump and I shove my hands into my pockets afterwards, trying to clear my throat. It feels really dry right now.

"Nothing much?" I said with a shrug. "You heading to class right now?"

"Yeah I have about, thirty minutes to get there." He says, checking the watch on his wrist. The lion head necklace is gleaming in the sun and I smile as I pick up the pendant.

"You must really like this dumb thing."

"It's not dumb. It's cool and I like wearing it." I smirk.

"So I've noticed." Keith looks away and runs one hand through his hair. "Where'd you just come from? Class or something?" I shake my head.

"I jut got back from Health services. I had a nurse look at my throat and lungs."

"And?" He asks, looking a little nervous.

"She said there's fluid in my lungs or something." I admitted with a little laugh. Keith frowned. "What?" I asked with a small smile.

"There's fluid in your lungs and you're laughing about it?" I shrugged. Why was he getting into one of his moods? It's not like it was his lungs that weren't functioning properly and growing flowers and shit like that.

"It's not that bad. I'm still alive. I can still breathe."

"Well you can't just let it sit in there Lance, seriously. Go to the doctors. I'll drive you right now." He sad, grabbing my hand and beginning to pull me towards the G parking lot.

"Whoa wait." I said, pulling back against him. "Keith, we've been over this. I don't have insurance. If it gets really bad, if I can't breathe , then I'll go but maybe this whole thing will clear up eventually."

"Is that what the nurse said?" Keith demanded. His eyebrows were arched down and his mouth was set in a hard line.

"Well no she told me to go to the doctors too but.." He started pulling on my hand again and I had to follow him otherwise I would trip, fall and probably bring him to the ground with me. "Keith I'm fine."

"Not according to the school nurse you're not." I laughed a little and Keith huffed.

"Can you stop being so stubborn? What's the problem with going to the doctors? Jesus I'll pay for it if you're so worried about insurance."

"You'd drop like three hundred plus dollars on me Keith? I don't know what they need to do to get this shit out of my lungs but it's not going to come cheap."

"As long as you're better." Keith mutters. I've just realized that we're holding hands and it's making me blush a little. I squeeze his hand and pull back again, planting my feet on the pavement so we'll stop moving. Keith turns to look at me. He's half glaring, our arms are halfway stretched between us. He has really soft hands.

"Keith, I'm going to be fine."

"You've been saying that for months and nothing's changed Lance. You're still sick." Keith said, shaking his head at me like I was an idiot.

"I'll get better. Nobody has a cold for this long!"

"There's fluid in your lungs."

"It's not that bad."

"It could build up and drown you."

"I'm not drowning yet." Keith groaned.

"Lance! This isn't a joke." He snaps at me. His jaw is clenched and he's gripping my hand kind of tightly. It's almost weird to see how concerned he is for me. There was a time when I thought the two of us would never get along, that I would always just be this big goofball to him that got on his nerves, but now we were more than that. We were friends and Keith seems to really care about me.

"Hey." I say, trying to get his attention. He had shifted his gaze to ground, scowling profusely but he looked up when I said this. "Like I keep telling Pidge and Hunk and everybody else who tells me to go to the doctors, if this gets worse I'll go. I swear." I smiled at him and Keith looked away, frowning hard before taking a deep breath and locking eyes with me again.

"Fine Lance." He grumbles. I smiled, slowly loosening my grip on his hand and Keith did the same.

"Didn't you say you had a class? Were you seriously about to ditch just to take me to the hospital?" I asked with a grin.

"I wanted to ditch anyways, you were giving me an excuse."

"Ah-ha! I knew all this concern for my well being was part of a hidden agenda of yours!" Keith laughed, shaking his head at me as we began to head back the way we came.

"I don't have a hidden agenda Lance. Everyone is worried about you."

"And I _love_ the attention." I said before coughing into my shirt. Keith smiled back at me warily. "How would we have even gotten there? I've never ridden a motorcycle before."

"You would have just had to sit behind me." Keith says with a shrug.

"But what would I hold on to?" Keith looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Me dumbass." I blushed a little.

"Okay but I meant... Like other than you. We... We've never hugged before dude. It'd be weird to sit behind you and do that." I stammered out nervously.

"Only if you make it weird, which, you are." Keith said with a smirk which only made me blush harder.

"Okay well I'm going to go back to my dorm, you head to class." I said shoving his shoulder.

"You sure you're fine? You look like you have a bit of a fever." Keith teased. Jesus I always forget how weirdly cocky he gets every time he makes me blush.

"I'm fine, fuck you Keith." I said turning away from him.

"I'll see you later Lance." He called out.

"Maybe!" I shouted back, trying not to smile. As I breathed in though, something flew up my throat and lodged there and I coughed, clutching at my chest. Fuck. Was I far enough away yet? Was anybody around? I felt like I was loosing air. I walked a little farther, trying to look like nothing was wrong but eventually, I had to stop and lean against a tree, clutching at my throat as I tried to cough as hard as I could to get the flower out of my throat. I was feeling lightheaded, my legs were growing numb and eventually, I managed to cough up the biggest flower I had seen to date. Usually they can fit in the palm of my hand but this one... This flower was _as big_ as my hand.

I was sweating really hard as I stared at the damn flower in my hand. Blood was dripping through my fingers. My arms felt weak and my legs were still numb. _Oh god_. I have to go to the doctors. But what are they going to do to me once I tell them what's wrong? Once they see what's wrong with me? I'd already woken up from nightmares where doctors have cut open my chest to see how the flowers are growing. I'm awake. I can feel everything and I always wake up just before the doctors begin to tear the flowers out of my lungs.

I sit down on the ground slowly, placing the flower next to me and wiping my hands on the grass before I begin to rummage through my backpack for my water bottle. I don't think anyone else saw what happened. There's people outside but nobody's really paying attention to me. I finish off the rest of my water as I slowly gain feeling back into my limbs. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack right now which isn't good. The aftermath of one always makes me lightheaded.

I stay on the ground a while longer, hugging my legs to my chest and staring at the flower next to me. _It's getting worse. It's getting worse. It's getting worse_. Was the only thought running through my head at the moment.


	49. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

_Playlist: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - Ke$ha_

**_After_ **

Everything was fucked up. Everything was so fucked up. I've missed almost three weeks of practice now. I was the fucking team captain and I couldn't even show them that I deserved the title! Tony and Randy could be arguing with Coach right not, trying to get me kicked off the team, trying to get my scholarship taken away and I was letting them! I needed to get over this fucking disease fast before it ruined my life.

Coach K  
Hey, Lance are you feeling any better?

**Lance McClain**   
**I'm not coach. I'm so sorry. I really wish I was at practice.**   
**If I get everyone sick though then there won't be a team.**

Coach K  
It's okay Lance. You just get focus on getting better. You'll be in the water again soon.

I wanted so badly just to go to practice, just to touch the water and feel it against my skin but I was coughing up flowers too often now. If I went, they would see. If I went, they would know.

* * *

The pulsing bass and the colorful party lights were not helping my nausea. "Lance, this isn't a good idea. Especially with your condition." Hunk had argued, a couple hours before. "Partying isn't going to help anything."

"It's not like I'm going to get drunk Hunk. I just want to go listen to music and meet a few people. Is that too much to ask?" Hunk had sighed.

"Lance, you're coughing up flowers."

"I know! And it'll make for a good party trick."

"Lance, I can't let you do this."

"Well I'm not asking for your permission Hunk." He shut his mouth at the harshness in my tone. I sigh a little. "Just come with me if you're so worried. But I want to go. I want to forget about this flower thing for a little bit." Hunk stood and walked towards me as I put my jacket on, coughing a little into my hand.

"You're burning up." Hunk said, putting his hand against my forehead. His hand felt cold, though it was probably room temperature. I moved away from his hand.

"I'll be fine Hunk. I feel fine right now. Let's go."

* * *

"Keith! Buddy!" Keith frowned as he spotted me. "I thought you hate parties?" I said, siding up next to him on the wall. Keith shifted around nervously, the red cup in his hand smelled like vodka. The smell alone made me want to throw up.

"I do. I'm here with Aurora and Jeremy though I don't know where they are anymore..." Keith said, looking around before giving me a strange look. "What are you doing here? Aren't you sick?" He demanded.

"That's never held me back before." Keith rolls his eyes.

"You shouldn't be here idiot."

"Aw, it's cute that you care." I teased. Keith looked away, clenching his jaw a little.

"Of course I care Lance." He grumbled. "You're like my best friend."

"Aw that means a lot to me Keithhhhh." I said, dragging out his name in one long syllable as I threw my arms around him. His drink spilled a little but it hit the floor and not our clothes as I hugged him to me.

"You really should go back to your dorm. I swear that I can feel the heat radiating off your body." Keith told me, pushing me back slightly, his hand squeezing my shoulder comfortingly.

"It's not that big a deal my man." I said, shrugging off his arm before heading back to the dance floor. "It's not that bad!" I started to cough into my arm though as I moved away from him and I don't know if he saw but a flower petal managed to escape my mouth and float to the floor. I felt nauseated looking at it. I moved faster away from him

"Lance!" He shouted. "Lance wait!" But I pushed farther into the throng of bodies. I had to get away from him. I couldn't let him see me cough up a flower.

* * *

"Hey! Lance? Buddy, can you hear me?" I could only groan in response as Keith let out a string of curse words, first in English and then in Japanese. "God damnit Lance. I told you to go home." I felt him slowly bring me up off the ground but I was basically dead weight, I was in no condition to stand. What the hell had even happened to me? Had I passed out? Blacked out? Jesus I'm really dying aren't I.

"Keith? Lance!" A voice shouted nearby as Keith wrapped his arm around my back, my arm over his shoulders. I'm surprised he didn't struggle under my weight.

"Jesus! He's burning up Hunk. We have to take him to a hospital." I think Hunk took me away from Keith which was kind of a mistake because Keith was actually pretty cold despite the warm air inside this building.

"Hey, Lance, you awake in there?" Hunk asked. I could feel him beginning to carry me out of the house and outside. The cool night air that hit my face was refreshing.

"Wait, hold on. Let me take his jacket off." Keith said. Hunk listened, beginning to set me down on something.

"You just want to take my clothes off." I murmured to Keith as he stripped it from my shoulders.

"Shut up Lance." Was his reply.

"Hey Lance, are you okay?" Came Hunk's nervous voice.

"I'm tired." I said, drifting back off to that place I went to when I first passed out.

When I woke up again, Hunk was putting me on my bed and taking off my shoes. Hunk and Keith were arguing. "We have to take him to the hospital." Keith shouted at Hunk. "He's sick! Look at him!"

"He's going to be fine." Hunk replied, though he didn't sound sure. "It's just a fever. Try to wake him. We need to give him some aspirin or something." Hunk, moved away and began to rummage through some things. Keith had scoffed and moved towards me I think. He felt a little closer but I wouldn't know. My eyelids were too heavy for me to open them and my body felt tingly.

"Hey, wake up." Came Keith's soft voice. "Okite kudasai. Watashiniha, anata ga hitsuyōdesu." He murmured, shaking my shoulder. "Lance." I could just feel how close he was to me. I tried to say something, maybe ask him what he said, but I couldn't make my mouth work. I was so damn tired and _really_ fucking hot. "What?" Keith asked. Had I said something?

"I'm going to throw up." I said, suddenly gaining the energy to move. I jumped out of bed and pushed past Keith, rushing towards the bathroom. I had barely enough time to lock myself in as my friends pounded on the door, telling me to let them in, before I threw up into the toilet. But when I looked down, it wasn't some chunky liquid in the toilet. They were more purple flowers. I counted at least six.

Breathing heavily, I stripped my shirt off, beginning to sweat profusely as I flushed the toilet. Keith and Hunk were still at the door, asking if I was okay. I turned the sink on and washed my hands, before splashing some water on my face. I kind of didn't want to look in the mirror but I did anyways. My eyes were bloodshot, bags under them. God, I looked so fuckin _dead_.

I threw open the door and Hunk and Keith stepped back. "It's fuckin hot." I said, running a hand through my hair. Hunk held out a water bottle to me and a bottle of pills.

"L-Lance." Keith stuttered out as I unscrewed the cap to the pills and dropped four into my hand. 

"That's too much!" Hunk shouted but I tossed them into my mouth and downed the water. I felt a little better once I finished the water bottle off. Hunk was still staring at me in concern as I crumpled the plastic in my hand. Keith wasn't even looking at me.

"Sorry if I scared you guys." I said, walking past them and moving towards my bed. I was sooo tired.

"Damn right you did." Keith said, finally finding his voice. "What's wrong Lance? Why won't Hunk let me take you to the hospital?" I smirked, sitting down on my bed as I used my shirt to wipe at the sweat on the back of my neck.

"On your motorcycle?" I questioned, glancing up at him. "I would have fallen off." Keith rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Shiro has a car you idiot. So does Matt!" I shake my head.

"I'm fine Keith."

"No!" Keith shouted, surprising me as he grabbed my arm. His eye contact was chilling. "You said that if you got worse you'd let me take you to the doctors. It's _worse_ Lance. It's so much worse. _Listen_ to me, let me take you to the hospital." I stared at him, confused. Why is he so upset about this? It doesn't make any sense. I pull my arm out of his grasp.

"You can _leave_ now Keith." God that was harsh. I shouldn't have said it like that. I look away from him as I stand and toss my shirt into my laundry basket nearby before stretching out lengthwise. Why does my back hurt? Is aching limbs a part of the symptoms for this damn sickness? When I looked back at Keith he was just staring at me. He quickly looked away when I caught his eye though.

"Fine, whatever Lance." Keith grumbled, grabbing up his own jacket off my desk chair and storming towards the door. He slammed the door shut, leaving Hunk and I alone and I sighed, collapsing onto my bed.

"He's worried about you Lance. You didn't have to tell him to leave like that." I pursed my lips and said nothing. "We could have at least told him."

"He wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from his brother and Allura. I don't want anyone else worrying about me."

"I don't think you get it Lance.. They're worried anyways." Hunk replied. I looked away.

"I'm just going to go to sleep okay? I'm tired." I laid down on top of my covers, arms behind my head as I closed my eyes. Everything still hurt. My chest, my back, my arms, my head. God if this fake disease was going to kill me, it should just do it already.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to leave the dorm" We were quiet for a couple minutes before he asked the question I knew was on his mind. "Did you throw up flowers?"

"I'm tired Hunk." I murmured.

"Lance, did you?" He insisted. I sighed and that's all he needed to know that I had. "It's getting worse. We need to figure this out or you'll die."

"I'm going to be fine Hunk. I'm not going to let some mythical disease kill me. Please let me sleep." Hunk said nothing more as I rolled over on my bed and tried to fall asleep. But after listening to Hunk get ready for bed and then hearing his slight snoring not ten minutes later, I knew I was in for another sleepless night.


	50. I'm Not Calling You A Liar

_Playlist: Sad, Beautiful, Tragic - Taylor Swift_

**_After_ **

Aurora sat down in front of me with a scarily serious expression on her face. "Keith says you have fluid in your lungs." I continued to slowly chew on my toast, trying my damndest not to aggravate the flowers but every time I swallowed, every time I breathed, I could feel the petals and stems and leaves making their way up my throat. "And I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure that that's not a good thing."

"You're right, you aren't a doctor." I said with a smile as soon as I finished swallowing my food, fighting the urge to throw it back up. That's a problem I had acquired recently. I couldn't eat or drink because every time I did, I felt like throwing up. I thought it was because I had an upset stomach but maybe these flowers are affecting more than my lungs. Maybe they're trying to shut down all my vital organs until I just drop dead. Aurora rolls her eyes.

"Lance." I sigh.

"What? I'm not dead okay? I'm not drowning like Keith said and I'm going to be fine." I insist, though I've lost all the passion in my voice.

"You're a damn, dirty liar." I huff and take a sip of my water as she continues to talk at me. "This is ridiculous Lance. You're sick. You need professional, medical help. Do you think we wouldn't help you? That we wouldn't shell out money so you can get this fixed?"

"Who is we?" I asked, though I had a pretty good idea.

"Jeremy, Tristen, Sarah, Keith, Matt, Pidge..."

"Okay, okay.." I interrupted. "I get it but this isn't something you guys should be worried about. It's _my_ problem." I stood up, grabbing my things and preparing to take my dishes to the drop off spot in the cafeteria. I don't think Aurora came in here to eat. She knew I was here because we had been texting right before she arrived, so she follows me as I begin to head out.

"We love you Lance. We don't like seeing you like this. I mean... Look at you, you're practically skin and bones." She grabs my shoulder and shakes me a little as I set my dishes down and that makes me a little lightheaded. I clutch my forehead and try not to groan. I feel her squeeze my shoulder. "Lance, please stop." She begs.

"Stop what?" I ask tiredly.

"You haven't gone to class in two days. You aren't eating and drinking properly. You aren't listening to us. Lance please, are you trying to kill yourself?" She demands. I turn to glare at her and shove her hand off my shoulder. Aurora's shoulders slump and her face falls as I scowl at her.

"I'm not _trying_ to do anything. You think I want this? You think I asked for this?" I demanded. Aurora looks around the cafeteria. Maybe I was speaking too loud. I can never tell now-a-days, there's always a loud ringing in my ears that won't go away.

"Let's go outside." Aurora murmurs. She reaches out to touch me but pulls her hand back when I move out of her reach. Jesus this stupid illness is turning me into a dick. Or maybe I was always an asshole and the disease is just brining that out of me. The two of us walk outside, Aurora trails behind me because she probably thinks I don't want her next to me.

"There's nothing else to say Aurora." I tell her as we continue outside. It's usually cold out here most nights but since my body temperature is 104 degrees, the world feels room temperature at 67 degrees. "I can get through this. I've been through worse."

"But you don't have to just shoulder on Lance! This can be fixed. It's not some serious disease." I cringed as we continued further into the quad, heading towards the dorms.

"I can handle it okay." I was running out of excuses. If she kept pressuring me... I might just snap.

"Stop saying that!" Aurora cries out, finally grabbing my hand and squeezing it. I stop walking. "Why are you being so stubborn. I don't understand Lance. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you and everyone else won't leave me the hell alone!" I shouted at her, wrenching my hand out of her grasp. "I told you I'll be fine so just leave it alone! You're all bugging the crap out of me and I'm sick of it!" Aurora cowered slightly I always forget that I'm taller than her. "You all need to just stop asking me questions, trying to make me do something I don't want to do and.." As I paused to take a breath, I felt a flower fly up into my throat. Oh god. Not right now. This is karma for yelling at her, isn't it. As I start to choke, feeling lightheaded, Aurora gasps and shouts my name.

"Lance!" Aurora exclaims, catching me as I begin to fall to my knees. I want to push her away. I want to tell her to go away. I can't breath and the only way to stop choking is to get rid of the flowers and I don't want to do that in front fo her. I'm too tired to try to fight this though. My body is giving up on me. "L-Lance." She stammers out as I begin to cough again. The cough shakes my whole body and makes my chest ache as I finally let the flowers escape. "Wh-". She breathes out, spying the bloody purple _fiends_. "I... I don't understand." She whispers. "Lance.."

"I'm fine." I say, through my teeth as I spit out a flower petal. There's three perfect flowers sitting in a pool of blood in first of us. I can't lie my way out of this one but Im going to try anyways.

"You are not fine." She says indignantly, clutching to my shirt tightly. "This is not fine! Lance, what the hell. Please tell me this is a trick. Please tell me this is some sort of magic trick you're playing on me." She glances over at the flowers like they might disappear.

"It's nothing." I repeat, trying to stand. I pull her hands free of me.

"Lance!" She shouts at me, angry now. "Stop saying It's nothing. You're worrying me! You're worrying everyone! What's wrong? What is this?" I feel like I'm going to throw up again. I need to get out of here. I need to get away from her. I've always been a good runner.

"I'm sorry." I manage to tell her before I take off at a sprint. My backpack thumps against my back violently.

"Lance! No!" I can't tell if she chases after me. I'm running too hard. Too fast. I don't slow down until I get to my dorm. I run up he stairs, past the front lobby, and up the stairs to my floor. My lungs are screaming at me. My body feels like it's on fire. My pounding headache only gets worse.

I'm so happy that Hunk isn't in the room when I get there because I throw my backpack to the ground, run into the bathroom and throw up. I'm chocking on the amount of flowers coming up. Oh god is this it. Is this how I die? Hunk is going to come back from class and find me dead on the bathroom floor, blood running down my mouth and a toilet full of flowers.


	51. The End of All Things

_Playlist: In Case - Demi Lovato_

**_After_ **

Tristen and Jeremy were looking at me like I had gone completely insane. Obviously, they were concerned for Lance and I. For Lance because, clearly, he is very, very sick and they were concerned for me because I had just told them (while hysterically crying I might add) that Lance had thrown up purple flowers, right in front of me and ran off without explanation.

"Aurora, you're not making sense. What do you mean he threw up purple flowers?" Jeremy asked, rubbing my back soothingly as they watched me cry.

"Well he didn't really throw up, more like coughed them up." I explained, wiping at my tears and sniffling as I tried to calm down. "I brought the flowers back." I said earnestly, gesturing to Exhibit A and Exhibit B. The flowers were wrapped in some tissue that I had gotten from my bag. I wasn't going to pick them up with my bare hands because that's kind of gross. I mean, I love Lance but he just coughed up flowers. What if it's contagious? What if he's caught some rare flower disease or something! What if this is going to kill him?

"Like he did a magic trick and threw up flowers? He's sick. He shouldn't be doing that." Tristen says. I shake my head no vigorously.

"No!" I cry out. "I'm telling you, Lance threw up purple flowers. It was no magic trick. He didn't have anything up his sleeves. He was genuinely and truly sick and then those flowers just came out of his mouth." I started to cry again, unable to help myself. I could still see Lance doubled over and in pain, the look of sheer terror on his face at realizing what he had done and how quickly he tried to hide the evidence from me.

"I've got it." Tristen said who had been tapping away at her phone for the past couple minutes or so. "But it's not going to make any sense."

"What wont make sense?" Jeremy asked, frowning and crossing his arms. His eyebrows were furrowed in adorable concern and his stance was very defensive. He hates seeing me cry and I kind of hate crying in front of him but there was no helping it. I didn't understand what was happening. I didn't understand anything.

"The Hanahaki Disease is an illness where the inflicted coughs or throws up flowers." Tristen began, reading from the website on her phone.

"Okay, sounds fake but okay." Jeremy said, gesturing for her to continue. Tristen looks up from her phone, her expression one of complete seriousness.

"That's because it is fake." She looks back at her phone and starts again. "The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from a one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals or flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. If the love is not returned, the flowers continue to grow inside the infecteds lungs until the infected dies. This is a popular trope usually found in fanfiction and.."

"Fanfiction!" Jeremy and I manage to shout at the same time.

"You're telling me Lance is dying from some fictionalized Disease?" I demand at the same time Jeremy says,

"You're telling me Lance is pretending to have fictional disease?" I shot Jeremy a look. He sighed. "It can't... it can't be real Aurora. Coughing up flowers isn't something that happens. Flowers can't grow in your lungs."

"Well clearly they are! It's clearly happening to Lance! I brought those flowers." I shouted, gesturing to the table. "I'm not crazy!"

"I didn't say that you were but..." Jeremy scoffed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "He _can't_ be sick from a fictional disease. It doesn't make sense!"

"Well it's real okay. It's real, I've seen it and it's happening. Lance is dying." I insisted but saying these words out loud didn't make me feel any better. In fact, I felt like throwing up. My guts felt like they were twisted up in knots and my eyes and throat burned because I was trying to hold back my tears. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be real. But the evidence was literally right in front of us.

"Well who the hell is Lance in love with then?" Tristen demands. "He hasn't told you anything has he Aurora?" I wring my hands, staring blankly at the wall across from my bed before I gasp so loudly, it startles the two of them.

"Keith!" I shout. "It has to be Keith it..." but my smile falters because... That doesn't make _any_ sense.

"It can't be..." Jeremy says slowly. My shoulders slump. Jeremy's known about Keith's crush almost as long as I have and that's not because I told him, Keith actually did. He thinks Jeremy's really cool which is understandable since Lance and Jeremy are pretty similar.

"Okay, What do you two know that I don't?" Tristen demands. "Why can't it be Keith? Keith likes Lance right? I don't see the problem."

"Because if Keith likes Lance and Lance likes Keith..." I begin, shaking my head the entire time. No. No. No. _No_.

"And the Disease is born from unrequited love..." Jeremy continues for me.

"Fuck!" Tristen shouts, finally seeing the obvious. If they both like each other, its not one sided love. Lance _has_ to be in love with someone else. "Keith will be devastated."

"We're _all_ going to be devastated." I correct. "Lance could _die_ from this. That's the secret those three of them have been keeping."

"Three?" Jeremy questions.

"Lance, Pidge, Hunk. Hell, maybe even Matt knows. He's training to be a doctor they could've roped him in to look at Lance's throat or whatever." I say waving my hand out wildly. "Lance is dying because of love. How fucked up is that? He doesn't deserve that." I'm crying again. Tristen is looking at her phone, scrolling through the Wikipedia page on the Hanahaki Disease.

"Does it say how to cure him?" Jeremy asks her. Tristen is shaking her head.

"There are only two options. Option One: Lance admits his feelings and that person returns them and the disease stops. Option Two: Lance admits his feelings, the person doesn't return them and Lance dies, choking on flowers."

"Well those are both terrible. Who else could he be in love with? He hasn't talked about that many people." Jeremy says, his thinking face on as he taps his chin lightly.

"Yeah, you'd think we would notice if he was in love with someone, he'd never be able to shut up about them." Tristen says lightly, sitting down next to me as I rub at the dried tears on my cheeks. Something Tristen said struck a cord in me. _You'd think we would notice if he was in love with someone._

_"What would you do if I said I love you?"_

"No." I whisper. "No it can't be." I'm beginning to hyperventilate.

"Aurora, What is it?" Jeremy asks, touching my shoulder. I grab his hand and squeeze it tightly.

"He asked what I would do if he told me he was in love with me." How long ago was that? A month? Maybe? I can't believe I forgot. It was so weird. I was so worried about him and yet, I forgot a critical conversation we had.

"What? When?"

"About a month ago maybe. The three of us were at lunch. You had gone to the bathroom and Lance started acting... Weird. We talked about love and..."

"And you think he's in love with you?" Tristen asked. With me? No, I'd already ruled that out. But, with one of our other friends? Maybe.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Maybe he's in love with one of our friends, someone he's close to. It would explain why he wouldn't tell us."

"And why he hasn't talked about the disease with anyone but Pidge and Hunk. Cause he knows none of us feel the same way." Jeremy murmurs. I feel sick to my stomach. I feel like throwing up.

"But... Who then?" Tristen asks lightly.

"I don't know. I really don't know." I whisper. Jeremy squeezes my hand but it doesn't help my aching heart.


	52. Fever Dream

_Playlist: Skinny Love - Birdy_

**_After_ **

A melodic laugh drifted towards me. "Keith?" I called out, recognizing his voice. "Where are we buddy?" Everything was dark. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming. I covered my face with my hands trying to will myself to wake up but to no avail.

"What are you doing weirdo." I opened my eyes to find Keith and I standing outside in the quad, by the water fountain. He looked over at me expectantly. "What are you covering your face for?"

"Uhh... I don't know." I said, lowering my arms. Keith smirks, shaking his head.

"You're so weird, come on." He grabs my hand and I'm so surprised all I can do is follow him as I blush hard.

"Keith what are you.." His motorcycle comes into view.

"We're gonna be late Lance. Stop dawdling." He picks up the helmet hanging from the handle bars and tosses it to me, pulling out another helmet from somewhere else. I just stare at the helmet in my hands.

"Uh what are we.."

"Will you get on already." Keith says, sounding impatient but looking pretty amused as he glances at me over his shoulder. The only thing showing through his helmet is his violet eyes. Deciding not to argue against him for once, I put the helmet on and get on the back of his motorcycle as he flips the visor down on his helmet. "Are you gonna hang on or what?" Keith asks, his voice muffled a little.

"To what?"

"You've ridden on my motorcycle before Lance. Want do you mean to what? Me of course, stop joking around. We have to go." I'm glad he can't see me blushing through the helmet and despite not knowing what the hell he's talking about, I put my hands on his waist lightly. "Heh, you're gonna want to hold tighter babe."

"Babe.." but before I can question what he just said, Keith takes off and admittedly, I make an undignified scream as I wrap my arms tightly around Keith's middle. I hear him laugh as we ride out of the school parking lot. I'm not able to talk to him again until we hit a red light. Keith is reckless, which I knew but he zips through cars and across lines and speeds through yellow lights instead of breaking and it's kind of intense. "Where are we going exactly?" I ask him, flipping up his visor before pushing up my own.

"Your favorite place of course." He says like it's obvious and while he does seem to be taking us down the right roads towards the beach.. Why are we going there? "Don't let go okay."

"I won't." I say, slightly stunned by the evident concern in his eyes. He pushes my visor down and then his own as the light turns green and I hold on tightly to him, admittedly getting a little flustered when I feel his muscles through his shirt.

Keith parks by the stairs that go out to the beach and while I struggle to remove the helmet, Keith removes his own with ease, shaking out his hair before coming over and helping me with a laugh. "You're hopeless Lance." He says, pulling my head free. "You're such an airhead."

"I'm not an airhead!" I complain. "I actually have things in here."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" He asks with a smirk, setting the helmets down on the motorcycle's handles.

"Like a brain, filled with information."

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." He takes my hand again as we walk down the stairs together. I don't question it, even though I want to.

"Why did we come here?" I ask him as we walk out on the sand.

"You love the sunset, you love the ocean so here they both are." Keith gestures out and the beautiful sight before me takes my breath away.

"Wow." I murmur, letting go of Keith's hand as I walk towards the crashing waves. "Thanks." Keith smiles gently.

"No problem." Out of nowhere, I start to cough. Oh god. Not right now. Not in my dreams too. "Lance?" Keith asks as I start to double over. "What's wrong!" I'm chocking, clutching at my throat. "Are you.." I throw up onto the sand, blood and flowers spewing from my mouth. "Lance! Oh my god!" But I don't stop. The flowers keep coming up, blood is running down my mouth. It's never going to stop. It's never going to stop.

\----

"Lance! Oh my god." Comes a different concerned voice. It's only then, that I realize I'm being shaken, someone holding onto my shoulder as I dry heave over my covers.

"I'm gonna.." I look over at Hunk who brings up the trash can. Grabbing it, I immediately throw up. My throats feels raw and prickly as I spit out some left over flower petals. Hunk hands me a water bottle next and I want to chug the whole thing but I pace myself instead, taking small sips.

"Are you okay?" Hunk asks quietly. I slowly nod my head. "I just came in and you were.. I don't know, choking. I couldn't wake you."

"I was having a dream." I murmured. "I was chocking on flowers." There was more to it though wasn't it? Someone was there. Someone was with me. Was it Keith? Why would it be Keith though? Was I just afraid that I might choke and die in front of him? Was that it? I'm afraid of dying in general but dying in front of my friends... I didn't even want to imagine it.

"We have to do something about this Lance. Your fever isn't breaking. This is only getting worse." He gestured to the trash can. "I don't want to watch you die." He told me earnestly.

"I'm not going to die."

"You are!" Hunk snapped at me. "Stop being so stubborn. Let's go to the damn doctors. Let's talk to the others, they might know something!"

"Might know what Hunk?" I demanded. "What could they possibly know that we don't? And what if the doctors can't help me or don't believe me or what if they believe me and they try to rip out my goddam lungs."

"This is insane Lance! You can't go on like this! You're going to die!" There's tears in the corners of his eyes. I've only seen him cry twice, once over burned cookies and a second time because he was homesick. This is the first time anyone's ever cried over me before because they were worried about me.

"Hunk..."

"Aurora asked about you! She _knows_ Lance, she fucking knows and she knows that _we_ know and that we're hiding it." My heart is pounding in my chest as Hunk rubs at his cheeks with the back of his hands, wiping away his tears. "I can't watch you die Lance! I _won't_ watch you die." I'm crying now too, watching him shout at me. My bottom lip is trembling as the silent tears slide down my cheeks.

"What are the doctors going to do Hunk?" I ask in a voice so calm it scares me. "What are they going to say when I tell them I'm coughing up flowers?"

"I don't know but we have to find out Lance. We have to try."

"You've read that wiki page over and over, just like I have and if this thing is legit, you and I both know that the only way I'm going to get better is if I figure out who I am in love with."

"But Lance..." his voice cracks and I stand so I can hug him. I wrap my arms around him tightly and he tries not to crush me into his chest as I sob into his shirt.

"And I don't love anyone Hunk!" I wail. "You would know, you're my best friend. I'd never keep anything from you. I don't know why this is happening." Hunk's chest is heaving up and down as he cries and I tighten my grip on the back of his shirt.

"I believe you but I just don't _understand_ Lance. None of this seems real."

"I know, I _know_." I cry. "I don't believe it either but I'm telling you the truth. I don't love anyone. I never have."

"You're going to die!" I bury my head into Hunk's shoulders, not bothering to argue with him because he's right. Even now it's pretty hard to breathe. Soon, all those thorny vines will wrap around my lungs and strangle me. The flowers will block my esophagus and I'll choke. And there is _nothing_ I can do to stop that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for the dream, Lance doesn't remember it, at all. You know how it happens. You have a good dream, it turns into a nightmare and immediately as you wake up you forget everything.


	53. Flowers

_Playlist: Love - Lana Del Rey_

**_After_ **

I've been in and out of consciousness for two days, maybe longer. I don't know. I'm not sure anymore. Hunk wakes me up to give me water and pain killers and sometimes soup but I can never tell what day it is, what time it is or how much time has passed. Everything's too hazy. My head hurts, my body aches, I'm feverish and cold and I keep coughing up flowers. It happens every thirty minutes or so now. There's a trash can next to me filled with the vile looking things. It's not long now. Soon, very soon, I'm going to choke to death and I'll never see my family or my friends ever again.

* * *

I wake up gasping for breath around one in the morning. The back of my shirt is soaked in sweat and I think there's dried blood at the corner of my mouth. In the bed by the window, Hunk is sleeping fitfully and I wonder if that's my doing. I stand slowly, my knees wobble and my vision blurs but I manage to make it to the bathroom where I try to take normal, deep breaths to try to counteract the nausea. It works, barely, and I'm able to splash some water on my face to cool me down a little.

When I exit the bathroom, I feel a whole lot better than I did three hours ago. I kind of feel like I could run a marathon right now. My lungs feel clear, my legs feel strong and I haven't coughed up a flower yet so everything seems okay. But I know that this is just the calm before the storm. I _will_ die tonight and I'm going to make sure that it isn't Hunk who finds my lifeless body.

I change into a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt. Hunk still hasn't woken up even though I'm being kind of loud and I make sure to write him a note and grab my phone and a water bottle before I leave the room completely. I don't need my keys. I'll be dead within the hour. I immediately head outside and start walking around the dark campus. There are streetlights and path lights on but that doesn't make it seem any less eerie.

I'm completely taken by surprise by my stamina. For the past three days, I could barely walk to the bathroom without getting winded or feeling lightheaded but now, now I've walked almost half a mile around campus and I feel fine. I eventually make it to the water fountain just outside the F parking lot and I'm thinking of just walking further into campus until I hear someone call my name.

"Lance!" I turn around surprised, trying to pinpoint someone in the darkness. A figure slowly moves into the light and I'm surprised to see Keith. He has his motorcycle gloves on and his leather jacket. He looks like he just came back from a ride by the state of his hair. The lion head necklace shines brightly under the dim streetlight.

"Hey Keith, what's up?"

"N-nothing." Keith says in almost bewilderment. "What are you doing walking around right now. It's dark and you're sick." I shrugged.

"I actually don't feel too bad right now. Did you just come back from somewhere?" Keith runs a hand through his sweaty hair nervously.

"Yeah I've been around town riding for like two hours I think." I let out a whistle.

"Two hours? Why?" Keith shrugged.

"I had a lot on my mind. I was just thinking about... What I want in life." I nod my head slowly and gesture to the edge of the fountain so we can sit down together and we do so, shoulder to shoulder.

"Sounds nice. I used to go to the beach whenever I felt like clearing my head." Keith just nods, not looking up at me. I exhale slowly and turn my eyes up to the sky. I wish there wasn't so much light pollution, I would really like to see the stars right now. "Hey Keith, whatever you're thinking about, you should just go for it." Keith finally looked over at me.

"Really?" I nod.

"Life it too short to not take risks. Change is scary and stressful but, whatever it is... I'm sure you'll feel better once you do it or accomplish it or whatever." Keith slowly smiles.

"Yeah, I think you're right."

"I have my moments." I said with a proud smile. All the while, my stomach was churning uncontrollably. My lungs were working overtime to compensate for the fact that I wasn't breathing like a regular human being and my heart felt like it was racing in my chest. Oh god, was this it? Is this how I die?

"Lance." Keith said, his hand coming down on top of mine on the edge of the concrete bowl. I looked over at him and was barely able to register the smile on his face before I had the uncontrollable urge to throw up. The gentleman that I am, I immediately turned away from him and vomited straight into the rippling water of the fountain. "Lance!" Keith shouted this time as I continued to heave flowers out into the blood stained water. "Oh my god." Keith says and I feel his hands on my shoulders, trying to prevent me from falling into the fountain, but a chill runs down my spine and I nearly go limp as I see how much blood is in the water now. I count at least thirteen flowers.

"Ke-" but his name drowns in my throat as I throw up again. I feel like my lungs are just going to eject themselves out of my body. Keith keeps saying things but I can barely hear him over the roaring in my ears. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. The whole reason I came outside was so Hunk wouldn't find my lifeless body and now here Keith is and he's going to watch me draw my last breath.

"Lance." Keith chokes out I spit out blood. "I'm taking you to the hospital. I... I don't understand." His voice is shaking so much that I know when I look at him that he's going to be on the verge of tears.

"They can't help." I finally manage to say. My voice is hoarse, throat raw. I don't want to throw up again but I can still feel those flower petals.

"Yes they can! Unless you're fucking with me right now Lance, are you really throwing up flowers?" I don't want to look at him. I don't even realize I'm swaying back and forth until Keith stills me. "I'm taking you to the hospital." Then, with more strength then I thought he had, he pulls me up into a standing position.

"Keith n-" I crumple back down to my knees, Keith is clutching my arm desperately as I hack up a couple more flowers onto the cold pavement.

"I'm calling 911." Keith says, kneeling down next to me. I try to hit his phone away but my vision is blurry. "Stop it!" Keith snaps at me. "You're sick Lance! I'm not going to watch you die!"

"Nobody can help." I murmur. My body feels so weak. I feel like I'm loosing my grip on reality.

"Yes they can Lance, please let me do this." My head is in his lap now and he's still trying to call 911 but his hands are shaking too much. The pendant of his necklace is swinging wildly. I reach up and grab his right hand, feeling the leather beneath my fingertips as I try to squeeze his hand tightly.

"It's the Hanahaki Disease." I manage to get out through my labored breathing. Fuck. These flowers really are choking me. They're filling up my lungs. "I'm in love with someone who doesn't love me back." I feel the pressure of his hand. His face looks paler than usual.

"The Hanahaki Disease." Keith whispers. Somehow, the words sound different coming out of his mouth. My eyes begin to close. "No! Lance! No!" He screams, shaking my shoulders violently. "That... It always gets translated wrong! Oh my god Lance I'm so sorry." Why does he sound like he's crying?

"What?" I ask trying to open my eyes but everything hurts too much and I can barely breathe.

"The Hanahaki Disease." Keith says through a sob. "Is an illness contracted from one sided love where someone loves _you_ and _you_ don't love them back." Holy shit. That changes literally everything. I almost laugh.

"Oh god, who could ever love me." My fingers feel numb. My head feels fuzzy.

"I love you Lance!" Keith says. "I'm in love with you!" Something cold hits my face. I think it's a drop of rain and I almost smile, but it's not. Keith is sniffling, his hands shaking my shoulders lightly as he cradles me in his arms. I open my heavy eyelids. Keith is crying. Somehow he still manages to look really nice.

"You.. Love me?" I whisper. I want to reach out to brush away his tears, feel his silky hair in my hands one more time but my body feels too heavy. Everything is too heavy. I close my eyes again. I hear Keith dialing a number.

"Lance, stay with me. Please." He begs. "Lance... Lance!" Is the last thing I hear him scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! So yes, Keith gave Lance the Hanahaki Disease (well technically Lance gave it to himself since he didn't realize how Keith felt about him). But basically Keith loves Lance and Lance has the Hanahaki Disease because Keith wouldn't tell him how he felt and instead of the disease killing Keith, it kills the object of his affection instead. Hope that makes sense! Oh, and in case anyone was wondering what Keith was driving around thinking about, he was thinking about telling Lance that he liked him lol 😂😂


	54. Save Him

_Playlist: The Scientist - Coldplay_

**_After_ **

"Shiro!" The scream rips through my throat as soon as he answers his phone. "Lance collapsed. He's throwing up flowers! Shiro, it's the Hanahaki Disease what do I do." Shiro was in the military, he's used to thinking on his feet. He doesn't ask questions, he just acts.

"Hang up. Dial 911 and tell them that he's collapsed. Make up an excuse as to why he need to go to the hospital." I'm crying so hard now. My hands are shaking and Lance doesn't look like he's breathing. He's so pale. God he's so pale.

"I don't think he's breathing Shiro." I sob, my voice cracking as I shake Lance's shoulders gently.

"Keith! Hang up! Call 911, do you remember how to check for a pulse? Do you remember how to do CPR?" When Shiro got back from the army, he taught me a lot of medical techniques he thought would be useful. When I used to go to the Garrison, they were impressed that I already had CPR down.

"I'm hanging up." I say before immediately pressing the end call button and switching to the call board to dial 911. Dispatch answers immediately.

"911 what's your emergency."

"I'm at Acadia University, just outside the Cooper Hall dorms by the F parking lot. My friend just collapsed. He said he was having chest pains and I don't think he's breathing." I quickly run through this batch of information before putting her on speaker and gently laying Lance on the ground as I begin to check for a pulse.

"Okay sir, calm down. Does he still have a pulse? Do you know how to check for that?" I already have my fingers to his neck, my other hand prepared to press them to the inside of his wrist. My own heart is beating so wildly in my chest I feel like I won't be able to tell. But I feel the steady beat bellow my fingers and I choke on a sob. "Sir are you okay?"

"Yes, He has a pulse. Please send an ambulance. I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what to do." Lance had been squeezing my hand so tightly just a minute ago and when he went limp, I felt like I had stopped breathing.

"I've already sent someone to your location sir. Can you stay on the phone with me?"

"Yes." I reply shakily.

"Good, now can you try to wake him. Do you have any cool towels or water nearby?"

"No." I wail. "We're outside." My head whips around wildly to see if there is anything nearby that might help, anything of use. But there's nothing. "Oh god Lance please wake up." I beg, shaking his shoulder. He groans slightly. "Kare o hogo suru. Kamiyo. Watashi wa nani mo motomenai. Kare o watashi kara ubawanaide kudasai." I say, just so the lady won't understand what I'm saying to him.

"Sir, hello are you still there? I can't hear you."

"I'm still here." I finally manage to spit out. "How far away are they? I need help now. He's barely breathing."

"They're five minutes out sir. Please stay calm. What's your name?" I don't see how that's relevant. I'm staring at Lance wondering if the last words I'll ever say to him are that I love him. I can't fucking believe it. I can't fucking believe it. Why didn't anybody tell us what was happening to him? Hunk had to have known right? Pidge? They've been secretive, too _fucking_ secretive. I should've picked up on it. God damnit I watch Lance like a fucking hawk and yet I didn't realize that _I was killing him_. "Sir are you there? Can you tell me your name please?"

"Keith Kogane. The guy I'm with is Lance. Lance McClain."

"Okay and what is the nature of your relationship with him?"

"I..." Jesus, I almost confused to this random lady on dispatch that I'm in love with him. I _know_ I'm in love with him but I'm not going to fucking tell her that. How embarrassing. "We're best friends." I can hear sirens. Gasping a little, I look up and around, I can see the lights. "Do I move him? What do I do? I don't know..."

"It's okay. Hail the paramedics they'll know what to do." I don't want to move so as soon as the ambulance comes to a screeching halt and people being to jump out, I start to shout at them.

"Over here! We're over here!" A gurney is pulled out and a women is running our way, ahead of everyone else.

"Does he have a pulse?" She asks, dropping her bag and getting down on her hands and knees.

"Yes, but its weak. I can barely tell if he's breathing." God I'm crying all over again. I probably look like a fucking wreck. "Please help him, please."

"We're going to do everything that we can sir." I'm instructed to lay Lance down and back away a little, all the while tears are streaming down my face. After checking his pulse and his breathing, they heave him up onto the gurney and begin asking me more questions about his condition.

"What were you doing before he collapsed?"

"Do you know his medical history?"

"Has he had problems with his breathing before?"

These are all questions I don't have the answers to. I don't know his family history or his blood type or if he's prone to illnesses. I don't know anything that's helpful and immediately, I begin to hyperventilate. Sensing how stressed out I am, one of the paramedics drapes a blanket over my shoulders, sits me down in some chair in the back of the ambulance and instructs me to put my head between my knees and breath in and out deeply.

It doesn't help.

The paramedics are talking to each other in loud voices over the sound of the siren and I'm not liking what I'm hearing. Lance is dehydrated. He's unresponsive. There's fluid in his lungs. His heart rate is slowing. All of this medical jargon flies over my head and makes me dizzy, to the point where when we finally arrive at the hospital it seems like we've been driving for an eternity. Lance is rushed off and the women who first ran over to help, has been ordered to stay with me until I calm down long enough that I'm no longer on the verge of a panic attack. As soon as she's left alone with me though, everything just starts coming out.

"He's been sick for a really long time but he wouldn't listen to me or any of his friends when we said he should go to the hospital. He's been throwing up and spitting out blood and weak and feverish and nauseous and I should've pushed him! I should've dragged him kicking and screaming through those doors. And I can't watch him die. I won't. I think I'm in love with him." You would think I would've run out of tears. I've been crying for almost twenty minutes straight but as soon as I admit out loud, again, that I'm in love with him, I just can't hold back.

All those petty fights we had when we first met seem so fucking stupid now. Lance is flirtatious and a jokester and that's _exactly_ how Brandon was. He has stupid pickup lines and stupid floppy hair and a stupid gorgeous smile and I didn't want to like Lance because he reminded me of Brandon but... Lance and Brandon are _universes_ apart. Lance actually listens to me. He cares about me. He cares about his friends. Lance exudes confidence and at the same time, expresses his insecurities and vulnerabilities to people. And that is _nothing_ like Brandon.

I hated myself for weeks after I compared Lance to him and said that Lance was _even worse_ than Brandon. That was a lie and I said it out of anger. I don't even think I've fully forgiven myself for saying it. The look of absolute hurt and betrayal on Lance's face still crushes me when I think about it. I've been building up the courage for months now to admit to him that I liked him and I almost did it. I almost fucking did it while we were sitting on that fountain and then he threw up and I realized I was killing him.

There was a hand on my shoulder and I flinched out of the women's grip, still crying into my hands, trying not to look at her or anyone around us. I don't know how loudly I admitted to liking a boy. There could be some homophobic people around. "Lance is going to be fine. He's just a little dehydrated is all. As soon as we get some fluid in him, he'll be right as rain." But she's wrong,.

I love Lance and if Lance doesn't like me back, the Hanahaki Disease is going to kill him.

* * *

After I've finally calmed down, after the paramedic lady had finally disappeared, and after the nurse came out to tell me that Lance was still in unstable condition, I finally was able to call Shiro back and tell him what happened. When he answered the phone though, I couldn't even manage to say hello. "Keith? Are you okay?" My hands have finally stopped shaking but now I don't know what to do with myself. I slump further into the chair outside of Lance's room and take a deep breath.

"I'm okay, Lance is okay too so far. Can you call everyone? Can you come here? I don't want to be alone." I said. My eyes were red and stung from all the crying and I knew I looked like an absolute mess sitting alone.

"Of course Keith." Comes Allura's gentle voice. I must be on speaker or something. "We've talked to the others. Pidge is hysterical. Matt's picking up her and Hunk right now. Which hospital are you at?"

"The one on fifth and main." I say, rubbing my hand down my face tiredly. "Shiro..." I'm beginning to fucking cry again. Jesus I haven't cried this much in a long time.

"I'm here buddy what's wrong?"

"I was killing him Shiro. I was killing him." I can't stop myself from bawling my eyes out again. How did I not realize? How did I not fucking realize? Aurora said that all my pining was going to kill me, I just wish she'd been right about it hurting _me_ and not him.

"What are you talking about?" Allura asks, sounding confused.

"We'll... We'll talk about it when we all get to the hospital. I'll see you there okay Keith? Hang in there." Shiro says.

"O-okay Shiro." I reply shakily before we say goodbye. As I get off the phone, I lean forward in the rickety, uncomfortable hospital chair and start to cry all over again, the pendant of the necklace Lance gave me enclosed tight in my fist.


	55. The Hanahaki Disease

_Playlist: Goodnight Moon - Go Radio_

**_After_ **

When we get to the hospital, Shiro asks for Lance's room but my head is still spinning from what Keith said just over ten minutes ago. _I was killing him Shiro. I was killing him_. What did that even mean? How was Keith killing Lance? Shiro hasn't said anything and that scares me. The muscles on his arms are taut, like he's straining against something. I know it's stress and probably fear but I don't know why he hasn't explained anything to me yet. Are we waiting for the others? Is this some big secret?

Shiro called Keith as soon as we park the car. Keith tells what level he's on and in what building and I immediately text all this information to Matt as Shiro repeats it out loud to me. I get an immediate response.

**Roommate #2**   
**Is Lance okay Allura?**

_Princess_ 👑  
 _I'm not sure yet Pidge._

**Roommate #2**   
**We're nearly there**

I close out the screen on my phone and quickly follow after Shiro who has barely noticed I paused down the hallway from him. He apologizes as soon as I catch up. "Sorry but when Keith falls apart like this... It's better for someone to be there with him." I nod my head wondering what he meant. Keith doesn't seem the type to loose control.

When we reach the designated floor, we spot Keith immediately. He's sitting with his elbows on his knees, head in his hands. His shoulders are shaking which makes me think he's crying. Shiro and I immediately close the distance between us and when Keith hears our heavy footfalls, he looks up. "Shiro!" Keith chokes out before standing and meeting his brother halfway. The two of them crash into one another and Shiro wraps him up tightly in a hug. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

"You couldn't have known Keith. Don't put this all on yourself." Shiro says lightly, rubbing his brothers back. I watch the two of them quietly, not wanting to interrupt. When Keith pulls back and sees me though, he unexpectedly hugs me. I've ruffled Keith's hair before, lightly punched his arm but I know he's not a hugger and so I've never tried to make that kind of physical contact with him. But when he hugs me now, I don't waste the opportunity.

"Everything's all right Keith." I tell him as I stroke his hair lightly. "Lance is going to be just fine."

"I told him I loved him." I heard Keith murmur against my chest. "I hope it was enough."

"Enough for what? What are you and your brother talking about?" I asked Keith, pulling back slightly so I could look at him. I spot the lion necklace immediately. Usually it's tucked under Keith's shirt. He's a bit embarrassed by the fact that he wears it so often but I think it's cute that he likes Lance so much, he decided to consistently wear the dumb necklace he bought him. Other than the necklace, I notice that Keith looks tired, physically drained and slowly Keith looks to Shiro so he can possibly explain what's going on to me. Shiro hesitates again.

"Let's wait until the others are here." It doesn't take them long to arrive.

Pidge is the first one to appear and immediately, she launches herself into Shiro's arms. "We tried to tell him!" Pidge cries out as Matt and Hunk run up as well. "We knew he was sick but he wouldn't listen to us."

"Pidge it's okay, calm down." Shiro said lightly, patting her head as he hugged her back.

"Can we see him?" Hunk asks worriedly.

"The doctors haven't let me in yet." Keith said, rubbing at his eyes. "And anyways, I need to tell you guys what happened. Lance isn't just sick. He has the Hanahaki Disease." The only one who seems surprised by this bit of information is me. I've never heard of the Hanahaki Disease before but it almost looks like... everyone else has.

"We... We kind of already knew that." Hunk says slowly.

"What?" Keith asks, staring at Hunk in half confusion, half annoyance.

"He's been... Coughing up flowers for almost three... Four months now." Matt says with a sigh.

"Why... Why didn't he tell us then?" Keith demanded, gesturing between himself, Shiro, and I.

"He barely told me after a month Keith. He didn't want to get people involved. He thought we wouldn't believe him." Hunk explained. But I still wasn't following any of this.

"Hold on, hold on, it seems like everyone knows what the Hanahaki Disease is but me." Keith huffs and turns away from his friends, looking down right pissed off by what they had been saying. Shiro sighed so I looked over at him as Pidge moves to go hug Hunk, squeezing herself into his side.

"The Hanahaki Disease is an old Japanese myth." Shiro begins. "It revolves around a young women who loved a man so much that it made him sick. He began throwing up her favorite flowers until eventually he died choking on them. The story is supposed to warn men about leading on women."

"Wait!" Pidge interrupts her eyes wide in almost horror. "We thought... Doesn't the disease affect you if you love someone who doesn't love you back? Not the other way around?"

"It gets translated wrong." Shiro said simply. Pidge's bottom lip trembled.

"But then who... Who loves Lance? We've been trying for months now to figure out who he loves when we should've been doing it the other way around!"

"I love him." Keith says in a hard tone, turning around to glare at Pidge, Hunk and Matt. "I was killing him and you three didn't tell us a damn thing about any of this!"

"Keith." Shiro says sternly, reaching for his brother but he moves out of his grasp, storming towards Hunk and Pidge.

"Because of _me_ he almost _died_! Do you get that? Why would you keep this from us!" Keith snaps at them, unable to help himself. Matt inserts himself between his sister and Keith and I immediately reach out and put a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"Back off okay? It's not _their_ fault. It's not _my_ fault and it's not _your_ fault that this happened to Lance. He didn't want to tell anyone. He didn't want people to worry about him. That's just how he is. He wanted to pretend that everything was fine even if it wasn't." Pidge is crying so hard and Keith's angry expression falls as soon as he looks at her. He takes a step back, breaths in deeply and glances back at me as if he just noticed I was touching him.

"I know I'm just... I can't fucking believe this. I'm sorry for yelling Pidge." Keith says sincerely, looking around Matt over at Hunk and Pidge. Hunk is holding her tightly as she cries into his chest. It's a heartbreaking thing to see.

"I didn't even know you liked him." She says trying to wipe away her tears as she sniffles. "Hunk and I never even considered that the translation might be wrong!"

"It happens." Shiro says calmly. "And it's nobody's fault. We know now and Lance will be fine."

"But I still don't understand." Hunk said softly. "How did Keith confessing cure Lance? Everything we read said that if Lance didn't like him back then he would..." Hunk stops.

"Die." Keith finishes. "So I guess we'll have to wait and see." Keith looks so agitated, so anxious. He didn't want to tell the rest of his friends about his crush like this but that's just how it happened. He turns away, playing with the lion head pendant in his right hand as he burns holes into Lance's door. If Lance dies, not only will we all be loosing a best friend, but Keith will have to live with the knowledge that he was the one who killed him.


	56. Kiss, Kiss Fall In Love

_Playlist: iT's YoU - ZAYN_

**_After_ **

I woke up, groggy, my head pounding fiercely. My chest felt like it was on fire and my throat itched like crazy, trying to get me to cough up another flower. No. I wouldn't do it. I would rather _die_ than throw up more flowers. I tried to ignore the feeling, balling my hands into fists at my sides and keeping my eyes shut tight until I could see stars. I didn't want to cough. I didn't want to cough. If I didn't I was going to fucking loose it though.

I finally sat up and pulled my shirt up over my mouth to muffle the sound of my coughing. I didn't want to wake Hunk up. I coughed down into my chest until the itchy feeling went away. I thought I might feel blood run down my chest or the soft caress of petals, maybe the scratchy feeling of leaves and stems forcing their way out of my mouth but... There was nothing. My chest still aches, my throat still hurt but.. I didn't cough up any flowers.

I opened my eyes.

The room was a lot brighter than I expected. Probably because I wasn't in my dorm room. Instead, I found myself sitting up in a hospital bed. I was wearing a thin hospital gown instead of one of the shirts I normally wear to bed. There was an IV in my left arm and a heart monitor beeping softly in the corner. I rubbed my tired eyes, hearing someone snoring lightly nearby.

Keith was curled up in an uncomfortable looking hospital chair. He wasn't wearing his jacket, it was laid out across the back of the chair. He looked agitated even in his sleep. It kind of looked like he was having a nightmare. I tentatively began to reach out to wake him, ask him what was happening before it all hit me like a speeding train.

_"I love you Lance! I'm in love with you!"_

Keith loves me.

The door to the room opens. Allura walks in, looking just as tired and worn out as Keith does. She looks like she has a speech prepared, probably for Keith. She might want to tell him to wake up, to get some proper food in his system and drink some coffee maybe. Maybe he's been here all night, all day. I don't know what time it is or what day anymore. But when she sees that I'm awake, reaching for Keith, she can't help but shout my name in surprise. "Lance!" Her sudden declaration startles Keith awake. His jacket falls to the floor as he sits up properly. He sees my hand reaching for him and blushes red.

"Lance!" Another voice cries out. Pidge, Hunk, Matt and Shiro appear in the doorway and before Allura can stop them, because I'm sure only 1 or 2 people are supposed to be in my room at a time, Pidge and Hunk rush toward me, both of them beginning to cry.

"Lance!" Pidge shouts, practically launching herself onto my bed. I groan a little as she kneels on my legs for a second and crashes into my chest.

"Katie!" Matt shouts, everyone looks afraid that my friends are going to crush me to death. Pidge throws her arms around me, crying into my shoulder as Hunk wraps the two of us up in his arms. 

"I hate you." Pidge cries into my chest as I hug her back with one arm, stroking her hair. "Don't you dare do something like that again McClain!"

"I'm literally going to bring you back to life just so I can kill you again Lance. I told you you had to go to the hospital!" Hunk says. I know neither of them mean it. They're just happy that I'm not dead and I'm happy too. I manage to wrap my other arm around Hunk and feel myself begin to cry into Pidge's hair.

"I know. I'm sorry. I thought I could handle it. I thought I could I figure this out." We embrace like that for a minute or so longer before Matt comes over and tells Pidge that she probably shouldn't sit on me. Pidge climbs off the bed with Hunk and Matt's help and then it gets a little awkward as the three of us wipe at our tears and try to regain our composure.

"What.. what day is it?" I ask.

"Wednesday." Shiro says. "You've been unconscious for about twelve hours." I purse my lips, not wanting to ask the question that's on my mind, did the doctors find the flowers? Am I a medical phenomenon? Am I going to be subjected to a bunch of tests now?

"The.. The flowers." I whisper.

"Gone." Matt says with a smile of relief. "When Keith called an ambulance... He told the doctors you were having chest pains and couldn't breathe." I look to Keith now. He's hiding behind Shiro and Allura, his back to the wall and his eyes to the ground. Matt chuckles a little. "They said you had a very bad case of the flu. Your lungs were filled with fluid but they drained it out." Was that why my chest hurt? Because they shoved tubes down my throat?

"The doctor said your chest is going to hurt for a while." Allura said softly, as they all watched my put my hand over my lean muscles. "And your throat. They suggested you try not to talk too much. Does it hurt?" I cleared my throat a little.

"No more than it did when I was coughing up flowers." I say with a shrug. I look over all of my friends. "So... You all know about it then?" Nobody says anything. "That the Hanahaki Disease only affects you if someone is in love with _you_ and _you_ don't love them back." Their eyes all slide to Keith. His cheeks burn red. "Can I talk to Keith alone please." That gets his attention.

He immediately stands straighter, bringing his back up off the wall. He finally meets my eyes as Pidge, Hunk and Matt file out of the room without another word. Keith grabs his brothers arm though as Allura and him begin to leave. He's whispering to him harshly, looking panicked. "Keith, just talk to him." Shiro says quietly as Allura pulls him away. Keith won't look at me. His eyes are fixed on his shoes. Allura closes the door to my room.

"Keith." I say softly. He doesn't answer. "Keith, come on." He glares at me a little, a frown on his face. "Will you come sit next to me again." He had dragged that hospital chair all the way over to my bed just so he could sit next to me. It was cute. Without saying anything, Keith picks his jacket up off the ground and puts it on before sitting down in the chair. "Have you been here all night?" I asked. He seems surprised by the question.

"We... We all have." He replies softly. "Aurora and Jeremy were here too but they went to go get us breakfast not too long ago and..." he's rambling. I smile.

"I meant here, in my room, in that chair." He blushes.

"Yes."

"Well I guess that explains why you look like shit." I say, smiling at him fondly. Keith is about to talk back to me, his eyebrows are arched down angrily but when he sees the smile on my face, his expression falters and he turns away.

"You should look in the mirror." He grumbles. I laugh much to Keith's surprise.

"So... You like me?" I asked. Keith huffs.

"God Lance can you not joke about it?" He demands. "You almost died. I almost killed you! It's not funny." I shrugged, lying back down onto the pillows, putting my arm behind my head.

"But I'm not dead am I?" Keith rolls his eyes, staring at the bed sheets huffily. His arms are crossed and he looks adorable when he's mad. I hold out my other hand to him. Keith looks at it in confusion. "Your hand dummy. Give me your hand."

"You don't have to do this." He mutters, pushing my arm away.

"Do what?"

"Pretend you care. Pretend you like me. My feelings aren't going to be hurt Lance. I know you don't like me." I arch an eyebrow at him.

"Keith... I'm not pretending." I said sincerely. "Can I please hold hands with you you idiot?" I ask with a grin. He bites his bottom lip before giving up in a huff and wiping his hands on his jeans and slipping his left hand into mine. His hands aren't clammy or sweaty so I don't know why he did that. Maybe he was just nervous. But either his hands are unnaturally warm, or my hands are unbearably cold. Either way, it feels nice to hold his hand like this.

"When did you figure out you were in love with me?" I asked Keith. He blushed and looked away so I squeezed his hand to get his attention again. "Come on Keith, I didn't start throwing up flowers until last December. When did you figure it out?" I asked again. Keith sighs, fingering the chain of his necklace with his right hand.

"When you were all I could think about." Keith finally admitted. "Over winter break I wanted _really_ badly just to text you, to talk to you and we _did_ talk but I wanted to do it everyday!" He scoffed at himself. "I _knew_ you messaged Allura a lot and Shiro on occasion but I was always too scared to start a conversation. I kept hoping you would text me and then calling myself stupid for thinking that because why would you text me." Keith laughed nervously as I stroked my thumb across his knuckles.

"I mean.. I thought about it. It didn't seem right to be texting everyone else and not you but we'd never texted before, aside from talking about homework or what them we were all meeting up." I shrugged, running my thumb over Keith's knuckles. That stupid necklace I got him was shining in the fluorescent lights. "Guess I shouldn't have bought you that lame present if I knew it was going to kill me." Keith looked down at his chest and blushed before shoving the chain of the necklace into his shirt.

"It's not stupid. I like it." Keith grumbled. His grip on my hand loosened and I think he wanted to let go but I wasn't going to let him. I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering what to say next.

"I guess I should apologize though." I said slowly. Keith arched an eyebrow at me.

"For what?" I shrug a little.

"I did think you were cute when we first met Keith. I mean, come on, I think your brother is hot. Of course I would think you are too." Keith turned red instantly. "But after everything with Jason freshman year... I don't know he just kind of fucked me up. I thought I did all the right things and he still dropped me like a piece of trash."

"Yeah well Jason's an asshole." Keith said with a scowl.

"I know, I know." I sighed. "But freshman year was kind of traumatizing. Jason broke my heart, I nearly broke up Aurora and Jeremy, my ex-best friends found out I was bisexual and said some shitty things about me in front of my brother and then the thing with my swim team..."

"What happened with your swim team?" Keith asked, concerned. "And ex-best friends?" I shook my head. It wasn't really important anymore. I was more or less over it. Its awkward changing in the boys locker room but nobody's tried to kick me out since Danny gave everyone that good scolding.

"Anyways, I just thought it would be better if I just... lay off the whole relationship thing for a while. Nothing seemed to be working out for me anyways." Keith squeezed my hand, looking pretty solemn. I cracked a grin. "Turns out it was a bad idea though. You nearly killed me." Keith frowned at me.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" He complained. I started to laugh, which turned into a cough. I let go of Keith's hand to cover my mouth with my arm and he came closer to me, scared. "Are you okay? It's not another flower is it?" He asked worriedly.

"No. No flowers." I said taking a deep gulp of hair. "Can you get me water though?" Keith grabbed a paper cup I hadn't seen earlier on my night stand and handed it to me. "Thanks." I said, downing the entire thing in one gulp. "So uh... How did I stop coughing up flowers anyway? I thought I was done for." Keith shrugs.

"I'm not sure. It could've stopped because I finally admitted that I like you or because..." he stops.

"Or?" I prompt. Keith sighs.

"We're not sure okay? We were all just... Speculating." I motion for him to continue. He clenches his jaw. "Or it could be because you realized that you liked me too." His expression was so cute. A mixture of vulnerability and hopefulness. I slowly smiled. I sat up, wincing at the pain in my chest. "Lance." He said worriedly, putting his hand lightly on my shoulder to try to push me back down but I put my hand on the back of his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. He remained motionless for a few seconds before finally kissing me back.

"I do like you Keith." I whispered, my forehead pressed up against his as I stared into his beautiful violet eyes. He was smiling and had this almost dreamy far away look in his eyes.

"I.." Keith began to say but he was interrupted by the door banging open. Aurora stood there, Jeremy just behind her and both of them had very triumphant smiles on their faces.

"I'm sorry to spoil the moment but right now I want to kick Lance's ass and also.." she began to walk over to Keith who was bright red. I don't think he'll ever stop blushing. She was holding her hand up for a high five. "GIVE YOU A HIGH FIVE MY BOY. DAMN. I SAW THAT KISS. I SEE YA."

"Aurora!" I protested before, much to my surprise, Keith stood up and high-fived her, still looking very embarrassed. Aurora squealed and began to hug Keith tightly.

"What did I tell you dude! I knew Lance liked you! You just had to tell him and not kill him for gods sake." Keith hugged her back as I began to cover my face in embarrassment. Did everyone fuckin know that Keith liked me?!

"I know fuck.. I can't believe this happened. It almost doesn't feel real." The two of them finally let go and Aurora turns to me, angry.

"I'm still pissed at you by the way Mr. _I'm Gonna Cough Up A Flower In Front Of You And Not Explain_." I started to laugh but my chest still hurt so I touched it lightly, in pain. Aurora smiled at me, partly in relief and partly in worry. Keith came back and sat next to me. Aurora stood above him and Jeremy was on my left.

"Yeah dude, you had everybody really worried about you." Jeremy said, touching my shoulder lightly. I shrugged.

"At least I didn't die." I offer. All three of them roll their eyes almost in unison as someone knocked on the door to the room. Pidge poked her head in.

"Okay who kissed who before we all start fighting out here." She demanded. I arched an eyebrow at her.

"Wh-what?" Keith asked.

"Did Keith kiss Lance or did Lance kiss Kieth?" Pidge says, turning to Aurora.

"Lance, I swear I was rooting for you." I hear Hunk clearly say, opening the door wider so I can see his face.

"There really shouldn't be three of you in here." Allura comments, glancing at Aurora, Jeremy and Keith. "But I'm with Hunk, Lance. I could've sworn you'd kiss him first."

"And I'm telling you all that Keith would've kissed him first. He's always been more spontaneous." Shiro said in a confident voice, making me laugh.

"Shiro!" Keith shouts at his brother.

"I bet money on Keith too." Aurora says. "Mainly because I thought his gay ass wouldn't be able to hold out for so long. I thought Lance was just going to do or say something Keith thought was incredibly cute and he'd just plant one on him." Keith and I share a look and then turn our attention back to our friends.

"Are you telling me you all bet on who would kiss who first?" I demanded.

"I didn't." Matt says with a grin,

"That's because you're holding the money dude." Jeremy remarks.

"Who else was in on this bet?" Keith exclaims. "When did this happen!"

"Oh like, twenty minutes ago when we arrived." Aurora said with a shrug. "When Shiro said you two were "talking" I knew that someone was going to end up kissing someone so we made a bet." She shrugged, grinning

"And it's the usual people." Pidge interjects. So I guess that means Jeremy, Tristen and Sarah also put money on the table (even though Sarah and Tristen aren't here). I sigh and rub my temple. I don't even want to know who bet on who.

"I kissed him." I finally say. "I just leaned in and did it." Pidge fist bumps the air before high-fiving Hunk while Shiro, Aurora and Jeremy groan.

"Guys, please. We were having a moment." I say, gesturing between Keith and I.

"Right sorry my dude. Congrats you two." Jeremy says, beginning to drag Aurora out of the room who protests the whole time.

"God I hate them so much." Keith says, shaking his head as he half glares at the door.

"Yeah but forget about them. Come kiss me again." He looked over at me startled.

"No." Keith said, blushing. "I can't believe they made that bet." He said, changing the subject.

"Do you want me to get out of bed? Because I will just to kiss you again." Keith stared at me wide eyed in shock. I started to remove the sheets from my legs.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Keith shouts, walking back over. "Fine, I'll kiss you." He puts one hand on the bed and leans back in to kiss me as I put my left hand on his cheek.

"Want to go on a date?"

"Lance." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me get up."

"Fine."

"You have to wear that red button up I like and we're taking Shiro's car because I'm not getting on your death trap." Keith crosses his arms and stares at me.

"Anything else your highness?"

"Yeah." I said with a grin. "Can I call you babe?" Keith put his hand over his face and sighed but he couldn't hide the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.


	57. First Date

_Playlist: Loved You First - One Direction_

**_After_ **

"Well Hunk, how do I look?" I asked, throwing my arms out so he could look at my whole outfit. He turned around in his seat to look at me.

"Like a douche." I glared at him and Hunk started to laugh. "I'm kidding dude, you look good. I know Keith will like it." He teased. I immediately began to blush as I tried to straighten out my tie a little. I can't believe I was going all out looking like this like a frickin nerd.

"Thanks man." I said with a slight smile, grabbing my jacket off my desk chair.

"Where are you two going again?" Hunk asked.

"The restaurant where we first met him." I replied sheepishly. "I liked it there and the food was really good and.."

"And you're going back to the scene of the crime!" Hunk hollered. "Are you gonna be a complete dork? Are you gonna pull out his chair and tell him he looks cute? Are you gonna feed him some of your food? Kiss him across the table?" He asked, clasping his hands together and making kissing noises at me. My face was bright red at this point as Hunk laughed at my expression.

"Sh-shut up Hunk!" I whined. "I'm nervous enough as it is."

"I don't see why." A voice said, barging into our room. "Keith's not _that_ cute." Pidge said with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed, moving to sit on my bed.

"Keith is _very_ cute Pidge but I will excuse your ignorance because you're not into him like I am." She smiled.

"You look really fancy Lance. Are you sure Keith isn't gonna show up here in jeans and his leather jacket?" I frowned as Pidge said this, straightening out my collar as I did.

"He better not. I told him what to wear last week when I was in the hospital."

"I can't believe it took you two this long to go out." Pidge said, shaking her head at me. Her brown hair was longer now and curled less at the edges but it looked really cute falling down around her shoulders. "He's apparently been lusting after your dumb ass for like three months now and then once you both confess your love, you make him wait _another_ week to go on a date? Harsh dude."

"What? I had to get my life back together. Do you realize how much homework I had? How many tests I had to make up? Jesus, I had to write a seven page paper in like two days. I was dying."

"As opposed to when you were _actually_ dying from a fictional disease?" Hunk asked with a grin.

"Is this going to be a thing now? Is everyone going to make fun of us for causing a fictional disease to come to life?" I demanded. All week now I've had to endure jokes about flowers and little jabs from my friends about being sick and dying. It's all in good fun and I love it honestly but damn... How much longer could they do this? There weren't that many jokes or puns about flowers were there?

"Yup it's definitely a thing." Pidge said. I groaned, running one hand through my hair as my friends laughed at me. "Where's Aurora by the way? I thought she'd want to be here to send you off." I rolled my eyes.

"She's with Keith. She rode with Keith on his motorcycle over to Shiro, Allura, and Matt's apartment so _they_ could help him get ready. Though I don't think your brother is there." Pidge shrugged. "Anyways, I'll see her when they come back. Keith's driving us in Shiro's car to the restaurant and dropping Aurora off back here in the process." Hunk snorted.

"Is she going to take pictures of you guys like you're going to prom or something?" He asked.

"Hunk, you know damn well she's already doing that, look." I opened my phone where some of her unread messages were still sitting and immediately, three new photos of Keith popped up. One was of Keith's back. It looked like they were in Shiro and Allura's room and Keith was changing into that red button up I told him to wear. The second picture was of Keith halfway turned around, glaring at Aurora, still with half of his shirt off. The third one I expected to be of Keith lunging at her but instead it was off the two of them. Aurora had Keith's face pressed up against hers and while Aurora was smiling wider than hell, Keith's grin looked more nervous.

"Awe, how cute." Hunk said, tapping on the photo of the two of them.

"Yeah. Auroras a big Klance shipper or whatever."

"Klance?" Pidge asked, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

"That's what she called us. Like a celebrity couple nickname you know? She refers to herself and Jeremy as Jerora every now and then." Hunk shrugged, probably having never heard her say it before.

"Klance doesn't make sense though. Jerora, yeah because it's equal parts her name and equal parts his name. Your ship name is just a K in front of your name Lance. Shouldn't it be something like... Laith?" Pidge asked. I just stared at her.

"Take it up with Aurora. She's president of the Keith and Lance fan club."

"Oh oh! Can I be Vice President!" Hunk shouted. I laughed, shaking my head at him.

"Come on, lets just go wait for Keith to pick me up. Aurora said they're on their way over." I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone and my friends followed me out the door and down the stairs. We made it to the parking lot just in time to see Keith and Aurora pull up in Shiro's car. Aurora was out and squealing long before Keith put it into park though. She jumped on me the second she got close and I laughed as I hugged her back, staring at Keith the entire time.

Aurora said she had pushed and pulled all of Keith's hair off his forehead and into a ponytail. The gel in his hair made it look stiff and slick and even though he was wearing a button up and slacks, he somehow still managed to look like one of those bad boy greasers from my dreams. He smiled at me nervously as Aurora pulls back to get a look at me.

"Look at my boys! You both clean up so nicely!" She cried out, motioning for Keith to come closer as she left one hand on my shoulder. When Keith got close enough, she put her other hand on his shoulder. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment." Keith burst out into nervous laughter as Hunk and Pidge snickered behind us.

"Can we go Aurora. Remember what we talked about?" Keith said. She waved him away.

"Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Don't freak out, don't take pictures, yada yada yada. I just want you two to have fun!" Aurora said before hugging Keith and then me again. "No go." She said, shoving both of us to the car. "Before I change my mind about those pictures and remember what I said Keith!" She shouts as we walk away.

"What's she talking about?" I asked, elbowing him in the arm. Keith blushed red.

"Nothing." He grumbled, hesitantly reaching for my hand. I grabbed his hand immediately and squeezed. Keith smiled.

* * *

Turns out, I didn't have to pull out Keith's chair for him because we were given a small corner booth at the front of the restaurant which made Keith a little uncomfortable because "People will see us right when they walk in."

"Well you look cute so at least they have something to look at." Keith had flipped me off and I laughed as he mumbled out a small thank you. The atmosphere between us was exactly how it's been for the past week. Keith can't look me in the eye and I can't shut up for five minutes. Ever since we confessed our feelings for one another, Keith has been very quiet. He hardly says more than five sentences in my presence. Aurora says it's because he doesn't know how to act now. But I think he's expecting to wake up one morning and found out that this has all been a dream. So as he nods along to the dumb story I'm telling, I finally reach across the table, take his hand and ask him a question.

"Why are you so quiet?" Keith shrugs, refusing to look at me directly.

"Why don't you ever shut up?" I laugh a little.

"Keith, if I didn't say anything, we'd be sitting here in awkward silence." Keith shrugged again. "See what I mean. You don't even argue with me anymore like you used to." The waiter comes back with our drink orders but I ask her to come back in five minutes to take our food order. When she leaves, I turn back to Keith. "Can you not believe this is real or something? That's what you said after I kissed you at the hospital." Keith blushed again. I hadn't tried to kiss him since that day, even though I've really _really_ wanted to. I just don't think he's comfortable with that yet.

"Maybe, I don't know. It's weird. I just keep thinking how crazy this all is."

"Well you better believe it babe. I love you, you love me. Let's get married and adopt a couple of kids." Kieth didn't laugh though and he had stopped blushing. He just looked... Uncomfortable now.

"You don't have to do that." Keith mutters, pulling his hand out of mine.

"Do what?" I asked, getting a sense of dejavu. I wanted to grab his hand again but he looked nervous and sad and I didn't know why.

"Say that you love me. Just because I confessed it to you at the water fountain doesn't mean you have to tell me you love me too. My feelings aren't going to be hurt or anything."

"Keith, I'm telling you I love you because it's the truth." Keith doesn't look up. "You're one of my best friends. I love hanging out with you. I love that I get to see you everyday. I love your stupid hair, and your stupid laugh and your stupid eyes." His cheeks turned pink. "I love you Keith. I'm not just saying it because you did."

"This is our first date Lance. I pulled a _How I Met Your Mother_ on you. Except it was _worse_ because I didn't even tell you I loved you on our first date. I told you while you were _dying_." I rolled my eyes. He was being over dramatic.

"First of all, I love that show and secondly, we've known each other for almost a year now Keith."

"But this is our first date." He argued. Was this why he was so bent out of shape? Was he was embarrassed for saying he was in love with me? Did he want to take it back or something? We wouldn't be here if he hadn't said it. More importantly I wouldn't be here but you know, if that's how he feels...

"Fine. I retract all my statements of love. No love for you Keith. You're just going to get plain generic friendship." He scoffed and rolled his eyes at me.

"Shut up Lance."

"I'm serious. I'll never say _I love you_ again. That's the last time you'll hear that phrase directed towards you." Keith shook his head at me.

"I didn't say you should _never_ say it to me. I'm just saying that this is our first date and you should forget that I ever confessed that I'm _in_ love with you."

"Kind of hard to forget seeing as you were crying, I was on the ground choking to death..." I began to list off before Keith threw his cloth napkin at me. I laughed, picking it up off my lap. "Don't throw things dummy. We're in a nice restaurant."

"Stop being an idiot then and I'll consider no longer throwing things at you." He said with a smirk. I threw the napkin back at his face.

"Can you stop being so nervous around me at least. It's weird not hearing you talk or argue or complain or..."

"I'm not nervous." Keith interrupted.

"You totally are."

"No I'm not." He said with a slight frown.

"Then you take over the conversation. I'm tired of carrying all the weight over here." Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes at me. We lapsed into silence for a second before Keith launched into a conversation about Shiro, it was something he had been reminded of while he was getting ready tonight. I grinned. I knew that if I pushed him a little I would get him to talk out of spite. Keith _loves_ doing things out of spite.

* * *

"Eyes on the road." I said, poking Keith's jawline. He hit my hand away before flipping me off.

"Then sit still you're making me nervous. I don't like driving Shiro's car. It's a lot different than my bike. Which we should have just taken." He muttered that last sentence under his breath but I heard anyways.

"I'm not getting on your bike after what happened last time." Keith wrinkled his nose, eyeing me confused as we came to a stop at a red light.

"Last time? You've never been on my bike." He's right, I know he is but why do I have this feeling that I've been on his bike before? Holding onto his waist and feeling the wind in my hair. Seeing his violet eyes and sensing his smirk before he flipped down the visor of his helmet.

"Oh uh... I think I'm remembering a dream I had once." I admitted, blushing a little red. "It was when I was sick. I think we were on your bike and I ended up choking on flower petals in front of you." Keith smirked.

"It was like a premonition then." I shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed that I had _just_ remembered the dream. "Dream about me often do you?" Keith asked.

"Shut up! It was the one time and I was sick!" I shouted as Kieth laughed loudly. But I smiled at the same time. Keith seemed to be back to his normal self. He had insulted my choice in shoes earlier, had gone to the bathroom and "fixed" his hair so now it was back to hanging loosely down his neck and over his forehead. I think I like his hair better like this anyways. It just always looks so silky. "So hey." I said, reaching out and touching one of the long strands, rubbing it between my fingers. "Do you want to go out again some other time?" I was still touching his hair and it seemed to have rendered him speechless.

"Well Uhh... You know.. That would be..." We were pulling into the B parking lot now and I was kind of sad that the night would be ending so soon.

"Is that a yes?" I asked, removing my hand from Keith's hair entirely. He took a deep breath before looking at me directly the first time this entire night.

"Yes that would be great." I smiled. I wanted to kiss him right there but Keith put the car in park and got out of it really quickly so I followed his lead.

"Planning on walking me up to my dorm?" I joked as I came to stand next to him at the front of the car. Keith rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Kind of. But now you've made me nervous."

"Seems like I do that a lot." I said with a grin. Keith shrugged and started to walk, probably trying to get away from the conversation. I jogged to catch up to him as he locked the car. "You don't have to walk with me Keith, I'm a big boy and I know for a fact that you need to bring Shiro's car back and FaceTime Aurora or something. She's been texting you nonstop babe." His phone buzzed in his pocket as if to confirm this.

"Yeah but I kind of want to walk you, especially after what you told me happened with Jason." I smiled.

"Well aren't you the sweetest. I'll be fine Keith, seriously. You don't have to walk with me." Keith bit his lip, staring at point behind me in the distance.

"Well.. Um.. okay." Keith's voice trailed off and he turned around swiftly, walking away from me. I stared at his back confused.

"Come back here." I said as he moved to get back into Shiro's car.

"What?" He asked, looking over at me with a nervous expression on his face.

"You said you don't want to be like Jason right?" Keith nodded. "Well do you think I'm just going to let you walk away without kissing you?" Keith's cheeks burned red as he swallowed hard.

"Well Uhh..."

"Come on, we've already kissed once don't be nervous." I said with a grin.

"I'm not nervous!" He said with a frown, glaring at me. "You just... I didn't expect you to say that." He muttered. I held my hand back out to him and Keith sighed before taking it. Before he could hesitate, I pulled him into me quickly and kissed him, threading my fingers through his soft hair. I could hear how fast Keith's heart was beating as he kissed me back, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Lance." Keith murmured against my lips, making my heart skip a beat. "I really like you. I can't believe this is happening."

"Believe it babe." I said, pressing my forehead against his as we pulled back slightly. "I like you too." He grinned and I touched his cheek lightly before pulling away fully. "Now get out of here. I'm sure your brother thinks we're making out in his car."

"Shut up! I told him we wouldn't."

"You _told_ him we wouldn't? Well then we definitely should make out now because it's probably what he's thinking anyways." Keith glared at me. "Okay, maybe next time then." I said with a wink. Keith groaned and pushed me away slightly.

"God, I hate you."

"Liar." Keith flipped me off as he opened up the driver side door. "I'll text you." He grumbled under his breath as he got into the car. I tauntingly blew a kiss at him and watched how red he turned with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters I wrote were like *bonus chapters* but this is the official epilogue of the story lol


	58. Double Date

_Playlist: From the Dining Table - Harry Styles_

**After**

"We're going on a... Drum roll please Jeremy." He immediately began tapping his fingers against the table rhythmically. She motioned for him to stop and when he did Aurora said, "A double date!" Keith and I exchanged a nervous look.

"Uhh.. What?" Keith asked.

"I'm with Keith on this." I said lightly. "What?" Keith and I had been together for a week officially, we weren't counting that week in between when we confessed we liked one another and our first date so technically, our relationship was really fucking new. It seemed too soon for a double date with anyone, even if they were our best friends. Aurora frowned.

"Aw come on you two! Please!" She begged. "I've never been on a double date before! And you two are some of my best friends." She grabbed Keith's hand pleadingly and I sighed. Nobody can resist Aurora's puppy dog eyes. "It won't be weird! I swear. It'll be like we're hanging out, except now you get to kiss Lance, Keith." He blushed. "Come on it'll be so much funnnnn."

"I still can't believe you knew he liked me Aurora." I said with a shake of my head. I had known her longer than Keith so it amazed me that she would keep it a secret. She's not really good with keeping other people's secrets.

"Hey, if I had known it was going to kill you. I wouldn't have kept it to myself." She let go of Keith's hand. "Now, double date or not you two. It doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"Don't listen to her. We don't have to do anything." Jeremy interrupted. He put his hand over Aurora's mouth when she opened it to protest. "You guys just started dating so it's cool if you don't want to do something with us." I watched Aurora elbow him and while Jeremy winced a little, he didn't remove his hand from her mouth.

"Well..." Keith said slowly, glancing over at me. "I'm kind of okay with it." He smiled a little and I smiled back, grabbing his hand under the table so I could lace our fingers together. Keith blushed.

"I'll take a kind of!" Aurora said triumphantly, forcefully pulling Jeremy's hand away. "Please say you want to do this too Lance. I swear it won't be weird. I just love all three of you so much and I want us to go on a date together! I've been literally imagining this moment for almost a year." Kith laughed at her as Jeremy shook his head.

"Jesus you're excited about this." Jeremy said rubbing his temple.

"Shut up, you thought they'd look cute together too." Aurora said with a frown, making me laugh. Jeremy shrugs, smiling.

"Alright so what did you have in mind?" I asked Aurora. She grinned.

"I'm glad you asked Lance because..." she rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small notebook. "I've written down tons of ideas for double dates. I've been doing this ever since I found out that Keith liked you." She said peeling open the notebook.

"Isn't this also the notebook where you write down all of our ideas for our wedding?" Jeremy asked. Aurora blushed a little and nodded.

"Yes, half of the book is dedicated to you and I and the other half is dedicated to them. Now, my ideas." She says, flipping through several, all equally pretty looking, pages. Aurora's really gone all out, decorating the blank spaces with hearts, flowers and all kinds of cutesy writing. I'm so glad I'm friends with this crazy girl.

Despite all of the planning and all of Aurora's cute date ideas, Keith only really felt comfortable going to the movies for a double date. "Ah come on! What about this couples art class! You like drawing Keith paining isn't that different." Aurora had complained as Jeremy snickered next to her.

"Painting is very different and you said I could pick! Why can't we just go to the movies?"

"Because it's boring you boring person." Aurora grumbled. Eventually she gave into Keith though, afraid he would back out of the double date plan. But the two of them did end up fighting over what movie to watch before Jeremy butted in and offered his own suggestion.

"But you've already see _The Girl in The Trees_." Aurora said, arching an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "I was going to see it with Pidge, Tristen, and Sarah since my movie buddy went with someone else." She said a bit huffily, crossing her arms. Jeremy laughed.

"I'm sorry babe. Jake offered to pay, I wasn't going to refuse." Aurora stuck her tongue out at him. "It's a good movie. I'd see it again." And even though Keith wasn't too keen on the idea of seeing a horror movie, I managed to convince him we should go by telling him he could hold onto me during the movie.

"Well no shit Lance who else am I going to hold onto? Jeremy?" Keith asked, gesturing across the table. Jeremy winked at Keith and Keith blushed because of it.

* * *

Keith ended up buying my movie ticket because I was "moving too slowly" taking out my wallet. But Keith had handed over his debit card without even looking at me and when I tried to pay him for my ticket he just shoved the money back in my hands and told me to buy popcorn. "Oh we'll do that!" Aurora said, interrupting our argument and taking my money from me. "Jeremy and I always buy candy and a slushee because I'm a slut for those things." So while Jeremy and Aurora got into line, Keith and I waited for them off to the side by the drink machine, watching as other movie goers came and went. I got bored just standing around though so I ended up hanging onto Keith. He stiffened when I started to hug him into my chest.

"Why do you always do this?" Keith asked, elbowing my ribs as I continued to lean into his back, my arms wrapped around his shoulders. He was standing very defensively with his arms crossed and kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously. It was kind of cute but I didn't know why this would make him uncomfortable. He's more than willing to let me do this around our friends.

"Because you're cute and small."

"I'm not short. You're like an inch taller than me." He complained. I laughed.

"I didn't mean small as in short. You're just so skinny."

"You're one to talk."

"Whatever." I said, squeezing him to me a little tighter. "I just think you're cute is all and I like hugging you like this." Keith laughed a little.

"It just reminds me of that time when you were first sick and you ambushed me in the hallway." Keith said, turning his head slightly to look at me.

"Oh! Right before psychology class you mean?" Keith snickered.

"Yeah, and right before the professor asked if we were a couple." We laughed together as I let go of Keith and he turned to face me fully.

"I want to know what she meant by body language. Were we leaning in to one another?" I said, taking a step closer to Keith and grabbing his hand. He laced our fingers together with a smirk.

"Maybe she noticed how often you kept touching my hair before class." I rolled my eyes.

"Or she saw that longing look in your eyes and thought, 'Damn, that boy has it baddddd.'" I said drawing out the word and making Kieth laugh. I kissed him on the cheek as he continued to shake with laughter.

"Maybe she was thinking that about you." He said, poking me in the chest. I rolled my eyes.

"Either way, she was a cool teacher."

"You're cool." Keith said with a wide smile.

"You're such a dork." Keith just leaned in and kissed me, his hand on the back of my neck as he pressed himself against me. Something hit my cheek though, startling me and causing me to pull back from him. Aurora and Jeremy were a couple feet away, walking towards us. She scooped up another handful of popcorn and threw it at us again.

"Get a room!" She shouted even though she was right in front of us now.

"Hey that's my popcorn you're throwing." I said, as she dumped my change into the pocket of my jacket and I began picking popcorn out of Keith's hair. Keith groaned a little and dropped his head onto my chest, hiding his embarrassment. I laughed and wrapped him back up in a hug. "Stop embarrassing him. You know how he gets." I said grabbing a piece of popcorn at my jacket and throwing it back at her. Aurora laughed.

"I know but I couldn't help myself." She shrugged, shoving the popcorn tub into my hands. "Come on, this movie isn't going to watch itself." She said, taking Jeremy's hand and dragging him into the theater. Jeremy smiled at us apologetically as I finished brushing the popcorn off my clothes.

"This better not be too scary." Keith warned me as we walked through the semi dark hallway into the theater.

"Have you ever been to the movies with Aurora?" I asked him lightly, eating a couple pieces of the buttery popcorn from the bowl.

"Um no, why?" He asked. I grinned.

"Oh you're going to love this then." I said, nudging him a little but Keith looked slightly concerned. This slight concern turned into blatant fear when he saw where Jeremy and Aurora were sitting, the top row of the front floor section.

"Why are they sitting so close to the screen!" Keith complained as Aurora waved us over.

"It's something Aurora used to do with her friends back home in high school. She started doing it with Jeremy and she even got her sister, Tristen, Sarah and Pidge to start sitting up in front like this." I explained as we moved down the row of seats toward them.

"Lance I don't like this." Keith said clutching to my arm tightly. "It's bad enough that it's a scary movie but we're so close to the screen now."

"It'll be fine Keith!" Aurora said over the noise the commercial was making. "I know it's a little scarier but it'll be fun. Maybe you'll get to hear me scream like a bitch." Jeremy laughed a little as Aurora took a sip of their drink. I turned to look at Keith who still seemed unconvinced by this whole situation.

"If you want to we can sit back there." I said, gesturing to all the empty seats in the upper section of the theater. Keith's bottom lip jutted out in a pout. I knew he was uncomfortable and scared and I didn't want him to feel that way and I also knew he didn't want to disappoint our friends by sitting away from them.

"No I can do it." Keith said in an unconvincing tone.

"You don't have to sit with us Keith. It's okay." Jeremy said. Aurora nodded with him, smiling up at us.

"I can do it. I can do it." Keith assured himself, gesturing for me to sit down next to Aurora. I plopped down into the seat and Keith sat on my left and began holding onto the armrest of the seats for dear life, like he was on a roller coaster.

"Aw, my big brave boy." I joked. Keith flipped me off and I laughed as I pushed up the armrest for the seat in between us. "Come here." I said, motioning for him to sit closer to me. Keith grumbled under his breath but slid over. I put my arm around his shoulders before kissing his temple. "Here, stress eat the popcorn."

"Shut up you idiot." He said, making me laugh as he leaned into me and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"Why don't you ever put your arm around me during a movie?" Aurora demanded of her boyfriend.

"Because you always want to hold hands." Jeremy said holding up their interlocked hands. Aurora shrugged and Keith and I laughed.

"If I get nightmares from this movie, I'm going to hate you." Keith whispered to me.

"Aw you could never hate me."

"Just watch me." Keith whispered as the lights dimmed and the trailers started up.

"You can sleep in my dorm if you get scared." Even in the darkened room, I could tell that Keith was blushing.

"Where would I sleep?"

"Where do you think?" Keith seemed to think about it.

"Stop teasing me." He grumbled, shoving my chest.

"I'm serious. Hunk won't mind." I urged, rubbing his arm lightly. Aurora elbowed me in my arm and jokingly hushed me. I grinned and nudged her back before kissing Keith's hair and settling back into my seat to watch the movie.


	59. Captain of the Swim Team

_Playlist: The Last Time - Taylor Swift_

**_After_ **

"He shouldn't be allowed to be Captain, Coach." Tony argued. "He's missed so many practices because he's been _sick_." He said sick like he didn't believe I had almost died. "He's a stupid sophomore and there are other more experienced guys on this team that could easily replace him." Coach just stared at Tony, arms crossed as I stood there nervously, stretching out my limbs. Was he actually listening to Tony? He was kind of right. I hadn't been here but.. I really was sick.

"Alright, if you beat Lance in a race I'll consider making someone else Captain." A grin slowly formed on my face. Tony has _never_ been able to beat me and the others knew it.

"Oooo." They all crowed. I tried not to snicker.

"That's... That's not fair!" Tony began to argue.

"Oh it isn't? You think he's out of practice? Lost his touch? Isn't fit to be Captain? Well what makes you so special Gutierrez?" Coach Kenneth demanded. Tony was at a loss for words. "What's your fastest 100 meter Lance?" He asked, turning towards me.

"About 50 seconds." I said with a shrug.

"And what is the fastest anyone has ever swam that in?" Coach asked the team.

"46 seconds and 91 milliseconds. Swam by César Cielo." Someone answers. I'm surprised someone knew the answer.

"And what, pray tell, Tony is your fastest 100 meter dash?" His face was beet red. He didn't want to answer but I knew what it was. His fastest 100 meter was a minute and ten seconds. That was _super_ fucking slow. "Not gonna tell anyone?" Coach Kenneth demanded. "Then I suggest you shut your trap, get in the water and remind me again why you're on this team." Nearly the whole team was snickering under their breath as Coach turned to me. "Want to remind everyone of how good you are Lance?"

"Coach, I was born ready."

* * *

Practice had started maybe twenty minutes ago when I noticed that someone was sitting in the stands. I recognized the jacket they were wearing immediately. It was Keith. I smiled over at him broadly and waved. Keith waved back, a cute smile on his lips. I got out of the water and headed toward coach who was lightly chewing out a new recruit. "Hey coach can I go talk to my boyfriend for like five minutes." Coach Robby looked up at me and then over at Keith in the stands.

"Yeah, Yeah whatever. Five minutes. I asked him if he was lost but he said he was here to see you." I grinned. I would've thought he was lost too. He doesn't look like an athlete at all. I quickly walked towards the stands and Keith stood up and climbed down to meet me.

"Hey Lance." He called out lightly.

"Hey babe. Came to watch me practice?" I ask, running my hands through my hair, dripping water everywhere.

"Yeah." Keith said trying not to ogle my bare chest. It had finally dawned on me after we started dating, that that night of that fateful party where I collapsed, Keith couldn't look me in the eye back in Hunk and I's dorm because I had my shirt off. He thought I looked hot. Which only made me _that_ much more excited for my swim meets this year.

"How do I look out there?"

"G-good." Keith stammered out. "Not that I know a damn thing about swimming or anything." He said with a smile.

"Not much to it. There's just diving, laps, backstrokes." I shrug. "The real fun comes when you're racing people." I explain, wiggling my eyebrows up and down. Keith nods, shifting his weight around nervously. "Cat got your tongue?" I asked. He groaned as I smirked.

"Shut up Lance." He said, shoving my shoulder. "You just look really hot is all." His cheeks burned red.

"Oh? Is that all?" I asked. Keith huffed and I stepped closer to him, putting my hand on the back of his neck as I leaned in to kiss him. I didn't want to get him wet but Keith didn't seem to care as he pressed himself up against me, one arm around my neck and his other hand against my chest. I didn't care if my teammates were going to talk about this. I didn't care if they were grossed out. I wanted to kiss my damn boyfriend and nobody could stop me.

"McClain! Get your ass back in the water!" I heard Coach Robby shout, making me break away from the kiss and laugh. Okay, maybe Coach could get me to stop kissing Keith.

"You got it Coach!" I shouted back before turning to Keith again who was slowly letting go of me. I kissed his red cheek and then his lips again lightly. "I'll see you when practice finishes." Keith nods.

"I'll be in the stands." He says, pointing up to where his backpack sits.

"Okay babe, enjoy the show."

"I'm trying to do homework." Keith grumbles, making me laugh. He's not going to get a single thing done while I'm in the water and he knows it.

* * *

"He shouldn't be allowed to do that Coach!" I heard Randy say through the wooden door. I was supposed to talk to Coach after practice, he asked me to go to his office, but it seemed like he already had visitors. Visitors who were talking about me. "Bringing his... His _boyfriend_ to practice like that. Making public displays of affection."

"We're supposed to be focused on swim practice." Tony added. "You can't let Lance do this just because he's Captain."

"I'm not letting him do anything boys. Keith is a perfectly nice young man and if anything... Lance was working harder today just to show off to his boyfriend." I blushed a little. Sheesh Coach, you didn't have to say it like that. And did he talk to Keith? I feel like I would've seen that. I thought he just asked him if he was lost. "Now, I don't remember anyone having any grievances about you and your girlfriend when you were sophomores Tony. Nobody on that team said a damn thing when she came here during practice and cheered for your ass every time you so much as touched the water."

"Coach.." Tony tried to interject.

"And If you think I don't know about last year, how you made Lance so embarrassed, so ashamed of himself that Danny had him come change in my office then you're sorely mistaken." Holy shit. He knows? I never told him... Danny must have. "I'm all about second chances. I thought if you guys stayed on the team, got to know Lance a little better, you'd stop making homophobic remarks but I guess I was wrong. Some people can't change that easily and I will not tolerate hateful talk such as this and neither does the school."

"What are you saying?" Randy demanded.

"I'm saying you're off the damn swim team. No more scholarships. No more setting foot in this building. You clear out your lockers and you go talk to student services about getting some sensitivity training." My jaw dropped. No way. No _fucking_ way.

"You can't fucking do this to us! We're seniors! We're the stars of your team!" Tony started shouting.

"You haven't been a star of my team since your freshman year Tony, Randy." Coach Robby snapped at them. "Now if you have a problem with my decision you better take it up with my boss but I have my ass covered. I've been waiting for Lance to report you but he's too much of a nice guy to fight back against people like you. Now get out of my office."

"My father is going to hear about this." Randy shouts at him. "He gives a lot of this money to the school. I'm going to get your ass fired!" I could hear them heading for the door. I didn't want to get caught snooping so I ran around the corner of the hallway and watched Tony drag Randy out of the room who was shouting obscenities now. Coach's door slammed shut.

"Get a grip." Tony snapped at Randy, tugging at his shirt collar. "We're going to get McClain _and_ his fucking boyfriend. We'll make life a living hell for them if we have to." I clenched my fists tightly. They could threaten me all they fucking want but if they even _looked_ at Keith funny I was going to tear them to ribbons. "Now come on are we going to report Coach or not?" Randy muttered something under his breath and the two of them quickly began to head down the opposite end of the hallway back toward the locker room. I shook out my tense shoulders and slowly headed back to Coach's door. I knocked lightly.

"Come in." He called out. I opened the door and Coach looked relieved to see that it was me and not somebody else. "Hello son, good job out there today. Thank you for coming here like I asked."

"No problem and... I just want to apologize for missing all those practices. I was really sick, I swear. Fluid in my lungs and everything. I have the doctors note." He waved me away as I began to pull out the crumpled papers from my back pocket.

"I don't need an explanation Lance. You're _better_ , that's all that matters." I smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that I've kicked Tony and Randy off he team so we should plan to whip those freshman into shape and get two of them ready to fill their place." Oh my god. He had planned this in advance. He knew before he even asked me to come to his office that he wanted to kick them off.

"Oh, really? Why?" I asked, trying not to look pleased with myself.

"I think you know why Lance. You never came to talk to me about it but a lot of your other teammates did. Danny even personally advocated for you." He takes a deep breath. "Son, I didn't just make you Captain because Danny thought you were the right man for the job or because you are the best swimmer I've come across in my lifetime. I made you Captain because you're a leader. You're a good guy and some of those freshman out there.. Some of them watched you swim last year and you inspired them to work harder to gain this schools attention."

"What?" I asked, completely flabbergasted. I didn't know that.

"This school and this swim team aren't only a locally known thing. You remember how the last couple of our meets was televised? That broadcasted in several of the surrounding states. Thousands of people watched you win that championship last year." Holy fucking shit. I didn't know that. I knew it was televised but I didn't know people would actually watch. "You're a good kid Lance. I'm glad I found you at that dumpy school in your hometown."

"Hey, my high school wasn't that bad." I argued. He smiled.

"Keep at it okay Lance? I'm proud of you and those freshman are going to idolize you by the end of the year. Don't let it go to your head though."

"I'll try not to Coach. Is that all you wanted to tell me?" He nods. "Well, thank you so much for... Everything."

"Of course son. I'll see you at tomorrow's practice then?" I nod and stand, heading for the door. I have to get back to Keith. I have to explain everything to him. He's going to flip when he hears what happened!

* * *

"Listen here you little shit.." I swore I was seeing red. Tony and Randy were towering over Keith, threatening him. To his credit, Keith was standing his ground as my two _former_ , _asshole_ teammates got up in his face but I wasn't about to let him get hurt because of me.

"Get away from him." I shouted, across the room as I stormed towards the three boys. Everybody turned their eyes to me. Tony and Randy smirked which only made me angrier. I quickly placed myself between Keith and the two of them.

"Lance." Keith said, grabbing my wrist. "Let's just leave."

"No." I said forcefully. "Coach says you can't be here anymore, you're off the team. Now leave." I commanded. Tony and Randy just laughed. Keith tried to pull me backwards toward the door but I wouldn't budge.

"Coach won't have his job for much longer and you won't be Captain in a few weeks time Lance." Tony mocked. "So you better take your faggot of a boyfriend and get the hell out of here."

" _Don't_ call him that. Leave before I call security." Jeffery was just outside the building somewhere. He's always patrolling this area during the daytime.

"Lance, please." Keith begged, tugging on my arm harder.

"Yeah, run and call that fat pig Jeff. Tell him how much we hurt your feelings you gay ass bitches." Tony snickered at what Randy said but I just rolled my eyes. "You're just asking for me to knock your teeth in aren't you!" Randy snapped st me.

"Do you really want to touch me? My gayness might be contagious." His fist connected with my jaw and Keith shouted my name as I hit the floor, my duffle bag falling off my shoulder as I fell to the ground. "So you're a top then?" I asked Randy as he sat on my stomach and hit me again. Why couldn't I stop being sarcastic even when someone was about to beat the crap outta me? I hit Randy hard in his chest, knocking the wind out of him before throwing him off of me. I kicked him in the ribs and got ready to punch him in the face when someone shouted,

"Enough boys!" I turned around to find Coach and Security officer Jeffery coming our way. I looked back at Keith who was still in a fighting stance. Tony was on the ground in front of him, blood gushing from his nose. I immediately let go of Randy and backed away from the two of them on the ground. Keith grabbed my hand.

"Jesus Lance. You couldn't jut walk away?" Coach asked, rubbing his temple.

"They were threatening Keith." I offered as an explanation. Coach just sighed.

"You're just lucky Randy hit first otherwise I'd have to suspend you from the team." I smiled sheepishly. "And what did I tell you boys! Get _out_ of _my_ gym."

"They just attacked us!" Tony began to argue as Jeffrey hauled the boys up. "They're fucking crazy!"

"Tony, you know damn well we have security cameras in here. That's not how the student affairs office is going to see this. So I suggest you shut up and let Jeffry take you to the infirmary. You could get expelled from the school for this!" That seemed to shut them up and Jeffery quickly escorted them away, calling for another set of hands on his walkie-talkie. Coach turned to Keith and I again as I lightly touched Keith's knuckles. There was blood on them but I don't think it was his.

"You two are fine then?" Coach asked. Keith grabbed my chin and made me face him. I could tell I had a busted lip so that's probably what he was looking at.

"He'll live unfortunately." Keith said, letting go of me. I smiled at him.

"Alright, you two head out of here please and Lance, try not to fight anyone else please."

"You got it coach." I said, grabbing up my bag and taking Keith's hand again so we could leave. Outside, Tony and Randy were being escorted away by Jeffery and some other blonde security officer. They glared at us as we began to walk to the dorms.

"You didn't have to interject like that you know. I'm not helpless."

"I know but those guys are assholes and you're my boyfriend." I said leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I wasn't going to just let them talk to you like that."

"It's not like we haven't heard shit like that before." Keith reminded me.

"And it won't be the last but hey." I stopped and stood in front of Keith. "Pick your battles right? I knew we could take them." I said with a smirk. Keith rolled his eyes.

"You provoked them just to try to get them expelled?" I shrugged.

"Maybe." He sighed heavily.

"You're lucky you're cute when you're protective." Keith said kissing me lightly.

"Aw, thanks babe."


	60. Stupid Fights

_Playlist: Happier - Ed Sheeran_

**_After_ **

"How could you say that to me!" Keith shouted at me before rubbing his temples like I was giving him a headache. "Batman isn't a _sissy_ and he wasn't _cheating_ when he fought Superman. He was being smart. If you're about to go up against one of the strongest guys in the universe, you're not going to go unprepared! You're going to have a strategy."

"If Batman hadn't fought dirty, and if Superman wasn't holding back, Batman would have gotten the _shit_ kicked out of him." Keith did the praying hands and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before speaking again.

"Batman wasn't fighting dirty! Everyone uses kryptonite against him. _Everyone_! And Superman _always_ holds back when he's fighting people he regards as "weaker" than him so who is the real asshole? Superman and _his_ judgy ass that's who!" Keith snapped at me. I grinned.

"When does Superman say he holds back?"

"You think I wasn't ready for this fight McClain? I was born fucking ready." He whips his phone out of his back pocket and I watch him find the notes app and select one titled _Why Batman Is Better Than Superman_. Holy shit I'm in love with this man in front of me. "In Season Three of _Justice League: Unlimited_ episode 13, Superman says and I quote. 'I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking constant care not to break something. To break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or someone could die. But you can take it, can't ya, big man? What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose, and show you just how powerful I really am.' End quote. He's always holding back Lance. He has to!"

"How long is that note?" I ask him, ignoring the quote he's just laid out. I don't even think I can see a little sidebar that allows you to scroll. Has he really stored up that much information about why Batman is better? How many points does he have? How many sub-points? Where's the nearest jewelry store so I can buy Keith a promise ring?

"Not long enough." Keith says with a huff. "Want to hear all my other damn points McClain? I've got tons of them. Throw any argument you want against me, I'm going to refute it."

"Can you two please not argue over dinner for once?" Allura interrupts before I can say anything. Pidge and Hunk laugh and Keith's faces gets a little red. Had he forgotten where we were in the heat of the moment? The seven of us were sitting outside in the parking area of a local taco place. The place is always jam packed inside so we usually sit outside on top of Matt and Shiro's cars when we eat out here. It's cheap, it's good and it's the only place around campus that I liked eating tacos at. They were authentic, unlike Del Taco.

"Aurora was right about the old married couple thing." Pidge says, happily munching away at her chips and guacamole. "You two fight over _everything_."

"Yesterday they were arguing over the correct way to spread butter on toast." Hunk speaks up.

"I heard them once argue over how long you're supposed to chew a piece of gum." Matt adds.

"Or that one time where they argued over the fastest way to tie a shoe _and then_ proceeded to have a shoe tying race." Shiro said, causing all of our friends to double over with laughter.

"Those weren't arguments." I said, putting my arm around Keith's shoulders. He leans into me a little. "Those were debates."

"They were arguments Lance and I won all of them." Keith says with a smile. I scoffed.

"Yeah right. I beat you in that shoe tying race. Hunk timed it!" Keith narrowed his eyes.

"You only won because you distracted me and wouldn't let me do it over."

"Just admit I tie my shoes faster."

"Never."

"You two are so _weird_!" Pidge interrupts loudly. "Jesus I think I liked it better when Keith nearly killed you Lance." She says with a joking smile. I stick my tongue out at her which only makes her do the same thing back.

"Alright kids, enough of that. Finish up your food so we can get back to the apartment for our movie night." Shiro instructs.

"Okay _dad_." Pidge, Hunk, Matt and I say at the same time, making Allura laugh and Shiro shake his head.

"Alright, Alright. Enough of the dad jokes. Who has trash they want me to take?" Pidge and Allura toss their balled up foil at Shiro and he catches it with ease before heading to the trash with Hunk who is way too nice to let anyone throw away his trash for him. Kieth and I continue to lean up against the side doors of Shiro's car, eating our tacos and I can't help but smile as I eat.

"What's with the grin." Keith asked, glancing over at me.

"Nothing. You're just really cute when you get all heated like that."

"Well I must look great all the damn time then." Keith said jokingly.

"You do." He blushed and looked down at his food. The two of us ate in silence for a while as we listened to Matt, Allura and Pidge discuss one of their favorite tv shows together.

"I hate you." I laughed at Keith's sudden outburst as he crumbled up the foil and wrappers for his tacos.

"What? Why?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Nearly everything you say now that we're together makes me blush. Why don't I have that same affect?" He said with a slight frown. I grinned and brushed some of his hair out of his face.

"You do sometimes, when you're feeling cocky." Keith rolled his eyes.

"Which is rarely."

"Whatever. I think it's cute when you blush." I said moving in for a kiss, my hand on his cheek.

"Well good thing I do it often then." Keith murmured against my lips. "And why the hell do you taste like cinnamon?" He asked, pulling back a little. I laughed.

"It's the horchata babe."

"Booo!" Pidge shouted and as I looked over at her she threw some of her trash at me. "Get a room!" I laughed as I picked up her trash.

"Shut up you gremlin." I said with a shake of my head before I turned to Keith. "You done bro?" I asked, gesturing to his trash. Keith nods and hands it over. "Watch me make a three pointer."

"You suck at basketball Lance." Hunk said as I moved closer to the trash can to take a shot.

"Yeah you shoot like you don't have joints connecting your bones." Matt said, making Pidge giggle.

"And speaking as someone who has one arm made of stiff plastic, your arms are very stiff when you shoot." Shiro said. I glared at my friends as they laughed. Even Keith was trying not to giggle behind his hand.

"Your insults only make me stronger." I said before tossing the trash in my hand one by one into the bin. I only missed one shot so I ended up having to walk all the way to the trash can to throw it away but at least I showed them!

"Now everyone in their cars!" Matt shouted, bounding towards his car.

"Wait!" Allura called. "What movie are we going to watch? It better not be a documentary Matthew." As the two of them begin to argue the pros and cons of documentaries, Shiro unlocked his car with a roll of his eyes and motioned for Keith and I to get inside and Matt unlocked his car for Pidge and Hunk.

"Can you not call me bro." Keith asks as we climb into the backseat of Shiro's car.

"Why not?" I asked, confused. Keith blushed.

"Because I literally had my tongue in your mouth like five minutes ago. I'm not _just_ your friend Lance and I'm definitely not your bro or whatever." I smiled stupidly at him as he ran one hand through his dark hair.

"Wow you're cute." I said before kissing his forehead. "But yeah, I'll stop calling you bro. Is dude alright? Buddy? My man?" Keith shrugged.

"Yeah those are fine. I guess." He said with a small smile before leaning in and kissing me. "I used to always get butterflies when you called me _my man_ anyways." Keith admits.

"Why?" I ask with a laugh.

"I don't know." Keith muttered, looking away from me. "I think it was just the way you'd smile at me as you said it. Which is stupid because you'd smile at Hunk the same way when you'd call him that so I don't fuckin know." He shakes his head at himself a I lean in and kiss him. Keith kisses me back, putting his hand on my cheek.

"Is it because you wanted to be mine?" I ask with a smirk.

"Shut the hell up." Keith grumbles, shoving me away slightly.

"Aw come on, admit it. You wanted to be my boyfriend from day one." I said, tugging at the chain around his neck. He puts his hand over mine so I'll stop pulling on the necklace I gave him.

"Not from day one." He argues, blushing red. "Just because I thought you were cute when you walked in doesn't mean..."

"From day one." I interject as Shiro and Allura climb into the front seats, Shiro probably settling the argument between his roommates.

"It wasn't day one! You just looked cute laughing and then you got on my nerves and _continued_ to get on my nerves.."

"Until I grew on you and got in your pants." Keith scoffs and shoves me, making me laugh at how hard he's blushing.

"Hey can we not talk about who is getting into whose pants in my car please?" Shiro asked with a slight smirk as he glanced back at us through the rearview mirror.

"Oh but I want to hear the rest of the argument." Allura said with a grin, turning around in her seat as she finished buckling in. "What were you two talking about?"

"How Keith's liked me since he first laid eyes on me." I reply, making Allura laugh.

"It's not true!" Keith complained.

"It kind of is though." Shiro admired as eh started the engine.

"Shiro!" Keith shouted, his face as red a fire hydrant.

"What? I know your type. Lance is your type. I knew something like this would happen eventually between you two." Keith groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"I hate you Shiro."

"Love you too little brother." Shiro said with a grin.


	61. Graduation

_Playlist: Stay - Mayday Parade_

**_After_ **

I watched as Shiro, Allura, and Matt threw their caps in the air and felt my heart sink a little as they did. We all continued to clap and cheer for the recent graduates who all joked and laughed with one another on stage. It was a bitter sweet moment seeing the three of them up there.

"Come on!" Pidge cried out excitedly, slipping into the crowd easily as the graduates began to descend the stairs.

"Wait! Pidge!" Mrs. Holt called after her daughter before shaking her head.

"We'll get her Mrs. Holt! Don't worry!" Hunk said as he disappeared into the throng after her. I glanced over at Keith who had his arms crossed over his chest, eyeing the crowd in slight annoyance.

"What? Come on." I said, tugging on his hand to get him to move.

"No. I'm not going in there. I'll just wait until Shiro comes over here." Keith said with a frown.

"Well that's no fun." I grumbled, kicking at the wooden floor.

"Hanī, anata no kyōdai o mitsukeru." His mom spoke, nudging him a little. Keith groaned.

"Mama..." he mumbled.

"Anata wa watashi ni Lance to hanashi o shite moraemasu ka?" I arched my eyebrow at the mention of my name and Keith immediately blushed red. His mom smiled pleasantly and turned to me. "Lance What is it you..."

"We'll be back mom." Keith said loudly, drowning out the rest of her sentence and grabbing my hand before pulling us into the throng of people.

"Well that was rude of you." I said, squeezing his hand and moving closer to him as he pushed through people to get to his brother who wasn't that far ahead of us. "What did she want to ask me?"

"Nothing. She just wanted to annoy me." Keith said with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Keith Francis Kogane, your mother is not annoying. She is s gift from the universe."

"I keep telling you that Francis isn't my middle name." Keith said, brushing me off.

"Well you won't tell me your actual middle name so I'm going to keep assuming it's Francis until you say otherwise." He shook his head at me as we emerged into the small gathering of our friends together.

"There's the lovebirds!" Matt exclaimed, making Keith blush. Matt's favorite nickname for us is lovebirds and Keith kind of hates it. I on the on there hand think it's sweet.

"Nice valedictorian speech Matthew." I said, punching his arm in congratulations.

"Of course it was good." Matt boasted. "I've been working on it for months now."

"Yeah, he was telling us how he finally bumped the salutatorian down from her number 1 spot by completing that extra credit assignment and getting the highest grade." Hunk said with a smile.

"Yeah! Take that Becky Sue!" Matt shouted, fist bumping the air. Allura hushed him as several people looked our way.

"Yes Matthew, you're a genius now hush up." We all laughed.

"It's going to be weird not having you guys around next year." I said a bit sadly, staring off into the distance. "Who am I gonna hit on now that you two aren't going to be here anymore." I said gesturing to Shiro and Allura. Keith punched me in the chest but I just laughed along with Shiro and Allura.

"You can call us and give us your best pick up lines." Allura encouraged.

"Or just text them to us." Shiro agreed.

"You're not gonna miss me Lance?" Matt asked, pretending to be offended.

"Naw, Pidge is here. You two are so similar it's scary." I said, shoving her shoulder a little.

"Maybe, But I'm the prettier one." Pidge said with a cute smile that launched her and her brother into an argument about who is prettier than who.

"He's right though." Hunk said, ignoring the siblings. "I hate to admit it but you two did act like our parents a lot. It's going to suck not having you two.."

"Ahem." Matt said, fake clearing his throat and interrupting Hunk.

"You three." Hunk corrected. "Around as much. These three losers aren't that much fun." He said gesturing to Keith, Pidge, and I. Pidge stuck her tongue out at him and Hunk laughed.

"Yeah, what are we going to do if Lance starts dying again?" Pidge asked. I flipped her off and everyone chuckled.

"It was a one time thing guys." I said, putting my arm around Keith's shoulders. "Keith admitted he loves me so we should be good." Keith glared at me and shrugged off my arm, cheeks bright pink again.

"I still can't believe you three decided to room together." Pidge said with a shake of her head. "How are you going to deal with them Hunk?" She asked, gesturing to Keith and I.

"It was Shiro's idea for us to ask for a three person dorm." Keith argued. "You know my roommate was a little homophobic. I didn't want to keep living with him."

"Well you could've asked to room with Jeremy and is roommate. You like Jeremy." Pidge argued. I flicked her in the forehead and she yelped, rubbing the spot in surprise

"Aurora, Jeremy, Tristen, Sarah, and Aaron are getting an apartment together, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Pidge said, the realization hitting her again.

"See! You four can just hang out with all of them at their place like we used to. After a while, you won't even miss us anymore." Allura said with bright smile. We were quiet for a bit.

"Nobody could replace you guys." Keith said with a small smile. Matt started fake sniffling and crying, causing Pidge to giggle.

"Aw! Bring it in you guys!" He exclaimed, opening his arms wide so we could all hug. "I'm gonna miss you crazy kids." He said once we were all in one of our famous huddles. "Except you Pidge. I see you all the time." Pidge hit her brother in the stomach and we all laughed as he groaned in pain.


	62. Happy Birthday Baby

_Playlist: Adore -Acoustic - Jasmine Thompson_

**_After_ **

I woke up on the morning of my birthday with a smile on his face. The big day had finally arrived! The big two oh zero. Twenty! In another year I would be twenty-one and could legally buy all the alcohol I know and love. Normally, I'm not this excited for my birthday. The past couple have seemed to all have meshed into one celebration in my mind that I can't distinguish from one year to the next but this one would be different because I was truly happy for once! I have amazing friends, an even more amazing boyfriend, and an awesome family. And I would get to hang out with all of them at once at my house!

Keith was nervous about meeting my entire family but as I had to keep reminding him, he had nothing to be afraid of. Everyone already loved him, I talk about him way too much for them not to. "Aye! Look at our hombrecito!" My twins crowed out as I stepped into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes sleepily. The whole house smelled like baking bread and marinating meats. My mom and sisters have probably been up for hours preparing for my party. "¿Estás emocionado Lance?" Sergio and Felix continued to say in sync. I gave them a funny look as my mom came over and kissed my forehead, saying happy birthday before she turned back to the food.

"Can you two stop that. It's so creepy." I said, running one hand through my slightly curly hair.

"That's why we do it." Felix and Sergio said fist bumping each other before busting up laughing. I rolled my eyes before I grabbed some breakfast for myself. 

* * *

Seeing as they were all coming from about three hours away, I was very surprised when only twenty minutes into the start of my party, my friends were already showing up. "Aurora and Jeremy in the house!" I hear Aurora whoop as the front door is opened. I immediately rushed from the kitchen and out towards the front room.

"And Tristen and Sarah!" The two girls added indignantly. Aurora laughed and elbowed Tristen a little as I moved to greet them, allowing Julianna to step away from the door.

"You guys are early!" I exclaimed as Aurora squealed and hugged me tightly. I high fived Jeremy behind Aurora's back before she let go and allowed me to hug everyone else.

"That's what I kept telling her." Tristen said, kicking Aurora in the shin. "I told her this is a Hispanic party. Nadie llega temprano a una fiesta hispana." I laughed and high fived her as she said this.

"You've got that right."

"I don't know what she said." Aurora said as I hugged Sarah and kissed her hair, making her laugh. "But I arrive _early_ to things because when I was younger, my Asian ass mom made me late for _everything_ and I decided really quickly that I would never be late to anything once I was able to drive." Jeremy nodded.

"And she never is. An hour early to class. Forty minutes early to movies. She's insane." Aurora hit her boyfriends chest and everyone laughed.

"Hey well it's great to have you. Most of my immediate family is here, my parents, the twins, Juliana, and Carla but everyone else is going to come a little later."

"What did I tell you!" Tristen shouted again. Aurora stuck out her tongue and I laughed as we all moved to the backyard to meet my family.

* * *

Two hours later, all of my siblings, most of my family and half of my friends were all at my house but the most important person was still missing.

Lance💙  
Well you suck

Pretty Boy❤️  
I can't control traffic Lance

Lance 💙  
You could've left earlier 😒

Pretty Boy❤️  
We tried, you know how Shiro gets. He changed clothes like five times.

Lance 💙  
😂😂😂  
I just miss you babe. I haven't seen you in a month.

Pretty Boy❤️  
You'll see me soon enough 😉

"The party has arrived!" Pidge was shouting at the top of her lungs. Matt was hushing her but surprisingly, Shiro and Allura were shouting at the top of their lungs too, asking for me. I didn't know think they would all arrive together. I knew Hunk said that him, Matt, and Pidge got stuck in traffic but I didn't think it was the same traffic that Allura, Shiro and Keith might be in.

"Where is my beautiful boy!" Allura was saying, making my sisters laugh as I appeared around the corner.

"Beautiful?" Carla said, looking me dead on. "Ese chico es tan bonito como mi culo." Jocelyn and Juliana giggled.

"Gracias Carla. Tienes un hermoso culo." I said, bumping her with my hip.

"¿Dónde está tu adorable novio Lance?" Jocelyn said, looking over all my friends crowded in the doorway. In the back behind Hunk I could see Keith very obviously trying to hide. I half hugged Hunk and then grabbed Keith's hand, pulling him foreword.

"¡Aquí está mi novio!" I exclaimed, gesturing to him. Keith gave me an uncomfortable look as my sisters squealed and started to compliment him continuously in Spanish.

"¡Tiene un pelo tan genial!"

"¡Guau! Es demasiado bueno para ti Lance."

"Mira esos ojos. Puedo ver por qué lo amas."

"No sé lo que él ve en ti." Carla said with a laugh, nudging me. My sisters laughed loudly and Hunk snickered as well but everyone else, especially Keith, looked completely clueless. I elbowed Carla in the ribs and rolled my eyes.

"¡Cállate! Mi novio piensa que soy increíble." I said wrapping my arms around Keith in a hug and kissing his forehead. Keith touched my arm lightly and blushed, looking down at the ground as my sisters continued to laugh. "Can you take the rest of them to the backyard, it's getting a little crowded over here." I told my sisters in plain English so the rest of them could understand. "Y quiero hablar con Keith solo por un tiempo."

"Ooooo!" They shouted together. Jocelyn winked at me and Keith nudged me a little, trying to get my attention as I left my arm around his shoulders.

"This way gente guapa! The _real_ party is back here." My sisters said, leading my friends out of the hallway and towards the sliding doors for the backyard. Keith started to move with everyone but I stopped him by pulling him closer to me and steering us towards a quieter portion of the house.

"Where are we going?" Keith asked with a nervous laugh.

"My room." I said, winking at him. Keith blushed and I laughed. "Don't worry it's completely dorky and there's bunk beds. I just know that you're nervous to meet my family." Keith nodded.

"Yeah, I am." I opened the door to my bedroom and Keith walked in first, taking everything in.

"And I also kind of just wanted to have you to myself for at least five minutes." I said, shutting the door quickly and pulling him back against me. Keith laughed and put a little distance between us, keeping one hand on my cheek, the other on my chest. I thought he was going to lean in and kiss me and he did but he simply pressed his lips against my cheek. "Happy birthday baby." He murmured. I smiled at the adorable look on his face.

"Umm I'm gonna need a little more than that Keith." I said with a smirk, giving him a knowing look. "It's my damn birthday." Keith rolled his eyes but kissed me anyways. I put my hand on the back of his neck, slightly tugging on his hair as I backed us up towards my bed and sat down.

"Lance.. Your family." He grumbled as I pulled him down onto my lap.

"What? They love me, they love you. They _love_ love. So I'm going to fucking kiss you." He blushed. "I love you. You're so cute." I kissed him again as he grabbed fistfuls of my jacket, pulling against the fabric. I guess we were way to into each other though because one moment we're alone in my room and the next thing I know, someone is clearing their throat to get our attention. Breaking away, I glanced over at my brother who was standing in the doorway smirking. Keith immediately tried to hide his head in my shoulder, embarrassed as he slid off me and onto the mattress.

"Hey little bro, this your boyfriend." I grinned and slung my arm around Keith.

"Yeah, isn't he cute?" I asked, pinching Keith's cheek. He slapped my hand away.

"Stop it." He hissed as my brother and I laughed.

"Keith this is Dante. Dante this is Keith." Kieth stuck out his hand, still blushing red.

"It's nice to meet you." Dante shook his hand firmly.

"Nice to finally meet you too. You know, I already like you better than all the other people Lance has dated which.. Isn't many."

"Hey!" I shouted at him as Keith began to relax and laugh with my brother. "You can't be mean to me. It's my birthday."

"Yeah, yeah you big baby." Dante rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mom wants to take pictures now that all your friends are here." I stood up and nodded, taking Keith's hand.

"Cool, be there in a second." Keith turned to me with a worried expression on his face as Dante walked back out into the hallway. Sighing, I stood and held my hand out to him. Keith took it immediately as he stood and laced our fingers together as we walked out of my room "Don't be nervous. You've already met most of my family." Keith shook his head.

"I've only met your parents before and now four of your many siblings." Keith hissed, stepping closer to me as the sounds of my friends and family grew louder. "You haven't even met _my_ family yet. And I'm literally about to meet all of yours." Keith grumbled. "Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, nephews, nieces. Jesus why is your family so big." I laughed.

"I don't know! And hey, I've met your brother." Keith gave me an annoyed grimace.

"Of course you idiot! You met my brother before you even met me."

"Yeah... Have I ever told you that your brothers hot?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't." I said, kissing his temple. Keith smiled before licking his lips and looking off into the distance, seemingly thinking. "What?"

"What does.. _Novio_ mean?" He asked. "Your sisters said it a lot."

"Oh, it just means boyfriend. Why?" I asked, smiling at him as I pulled open the door. A smile slowly came to his face.

"You remember when you FaceTimed me on New Years?" I nodded. "Well, when your brother barged in and he said that sentence in Spanish he strung out that word ' _novio_ ' like he was truanting you and then when you said my name and ' _novio_ ' in the same sentence I tried to look it up." My face instantly turned red.

"And?" I chocked out. Keith laughed, squeezing my hand.

"And nothing. I think I spelled it wrong or something because it certainly didn't translate into 'boyfriend'." I groaned a little and covered my face with my other hand.

"God I'm going to kill Dante. Ese gilipollas." I muttered.

"Don't, I like him." Keith said, bumping his shoulder against mine. "I knew you liked me back then too." He continued with a confident smirk.

"Barely. I was trying not to look you, remember."

"And you failed."

"Shut up. It's my birthday. You can't tease me." I complained as Keith laughed again.

"There they are!" Aurora shouted. "My two favorite lovebirds." She hugged Keith and I together before the rest of my family saw us and all shouted happy birthday at me out of sync. I laughed and Keith started to become self conscious again as I began to show him off to my family.


	63. A Day At The Beach

_Playlist: Right Now - One Direction_

**_After_ **

"We're finally here!" I shouted, throwing my arms in the air and glancing back at Keith with a smile on my face. He arched an eyebrow at me, blowing a bubble with the gum in his mouth.

"You're acting like you've never been to the beach before." I rolled my eyes at him. Although he looked completely adorable in his snapback I hated that his hair was covered. I'd grown to really love that stupid mullet of his.

"Well I've never been to the beach with you." I said with a smile, turning the bill of his hat to the back Ash Ketchum style. Keith rolled his eyes at me as I cupped his face in my hands.

"You're a loser." He said with a grin.

"And yet, you decided to date me." I retorted. Keith opened his mouth to reply when someone tackled me to the ground, pulling me away from Keith.

"Stop flirting! I swear to god!" Aurora said as she tossed sand onto my face. She laughed as I pushed her off of me and spit out some sand that had gotten into my mouth. Keith and Jeremy were doubled over with laughter above us.

"Jeremy?" I complained as Aurora threw sand into my lap as we sat on the ground. "Why didn't you stop her?" Jeremy shrugged.

"She's a fast runner." He said.

"I've had practice." Aurora said with a shrug. I gave her a confused look. Aurora doesn't run. She's not athletic at all. "I've had practice... Running from my problems!" She shouted before getting up and rushing away, catching up to Matt, Sarah, Pidge, and Tristen who were heading down the beach together.

"I better go after her before she tackles Hunk or someone else." Jeremy said, clapping Keith on the back before holding out his hand to me and helping me up. "It's great seeing you all again so soon." I smiled. My birthday had only been a week or so ago and we had actually planned this beach trip at my party because as Allura brought up,

"The anniversary of our first beach day is coming up. We should all get together again!" Everyone had been to the first get together except Keith and he felt a little awkward as we reminisced about last years hangout and how the whole weekend had gone.

"Hey, imagine if you had just come with me like I suggested." Shiro said, nudging his brother as the conversation wrapped up. "You would've met everyone sooner, fallen in love with Lance faster and nobody would have nearly..." he glanced around at my hoards of family members before lowering his voice. "Nearly died this past year because of love." Keith flipped Shiro off.

"You know how uncomfortable I am in social situations." Keith argued. "I would've said absolutely nothing to nobody."

"I would've broken you out of your shell." Aurora had said, grabbing Keith's hand. "Look what I did for Sarah and Pidge! I got them to interact with us crazy people and go to parties and underage drink!"

"I don't think you should be promoting that illegal shit." Sarah begins. "But cheers." Grinning, she raised her glass to all of us.

"Cheers!" Everyone shouted, clinking their glasses together. Keith had simply rolled his eyes though and I kissed his temple.

"Your gay ass would've flipped seeing me with my shirt off if you had stayed out here that weekend." Keith blushed red all he way to his ears.

"Yeah, I probably would have." He said with a smile. I had kissed him when he said that and I kissed him now remembering it.

"Are you excited to get in the water?" I asked, gesturing out to the glittering waves.

"Not really. It's always so salty and seaweed always randomly brushes up against you and freaks you out." I shook my head at him, laughing.

"You're not going to get in then? You're wearing your trunks right?" Keith licked his lips and wouldn't look at me as we walked across the sand, hand in hand. "Keith. You do have your bathing suit right?" I demanded. He cracked a small smile and looked over at me with a _you caught me_ , face. "Keith Francis Kogane." I groaned.

"It's not a big deal Lance. The ocean is weird. Sand gets wet and I'd rather sit under the umbrella with Aurora and read or something." He said, gesturing to our spot on the beach where his brother and Allura were setting everything up.

"It is a big deal." I whined. "Why can't you just get sunburned and go into the ocean like the rest of us." Keith rolled his eyes.

"You'll be fine without me you big baby. You're the swimmer here. You know I don't do well in water." I kicked at the sand huffily. That wasn't the point. I just wanted to hangout with Keith on the beach and splash water at him or something. I had never been on a date at the beach before so I was excited to spend the day with Keith in my favorite palace. But I guess he didn't think it was important as I did.

"There's my favorite boys." Allura called out as we approached. "Keith you better go change into your trunks before someone drags you into the water like that." She instructed as Keith let go of my hand to sit next to Tristen and Aurora on the sand under the shade.

"I Uhh... Didn't bring anything to change into." Allura just laughed.

"That's where you're wrong!" She sang out. "Check my bag." She instructed before turning to help Coran and Shiro lug a heavy cooler closer to our setup. Keith frowned and glanced over at Allura's tote bag. He opened it slowly before closing it faster than I thought possible and blushing red all the way up to his ears.

"Allura!" Keith shouted at her. Allura just laughed and Shiro was grinning as well.

"We knew you wouldn't bring your own so we thought we would embarrass you in front of everyone if you were going to be stubborn about getting into the water." He said, dusting off his hands.

"Well I'm not doing it." Keith said, frowning harshly as Pidge and Sarah giggled at the expression on his face, like they were in on the joke. "I should've gotten rid of these years ago." Keith grumbled, clutching Allura's bag abnormally tight in his hands.

"What are they?' I asked.

"Nothing." Keith grumbled.

"Oh it's not nothing." Matt said.

"Shut up Matthew!" Keith said through his teeth, throwing sand at him. Matt dodged his attack as everyone else laughed. Were they all in on some joke that I didn't know about?

"Oh come on Keith, what is it?" Keith said nothing, just frowned at the sand, probably because he knew that I am very persuasive and will more than likely be able to get him to put on whatever embarrassing swim trunks Allura brought for him and get him to go into the water with me. "Come on Keith." I said, making a grab for the bag. Keith jerked out of my reach and scrambled up, looking like he was ready to make a run for it. "You're being ridiculous."

"I don't want to go in the water with these." He whined.

"Well it's either that or I'll drag you in there fully clothed babe. Your choice." Keith made a face, looking like he was going to start complaining some more. "Are they themed?" I asked. Keith frowned.

"Not... not exactly a theme I guess." He murmured, scratching the back of his neck.

"So they're not Batman?" Keith scoffed.

"No. I would wear those ones. _These_ I got in high school and I thought they were funny and I bought them and my mom hated them and I only wore them a couple times before shoving them to the back of my drawer never to be seen again _Allura_." He said with a hint of annoyance. She giggled.

"Just show me you dumbass. I'll see them eventually so you might as well make it easy on yourself."

"If you can't catch me then you can't see them." Keith said stubbornly, probably preparing to run to the nearest trashcan to get rid of the evidence or something.

"Babe, we all know I have the most stamina out of the two of us." Keith's eyes widened a little as all of our friends (minus Coran who was too busy talking to himself about what to make for dinner, and minus Shiro who rolled his eyes) went "Ooooooooo!" Loudly and obnoxiously, drawing the attention of other beach goers.

"You gonna stand their and take that pretty boy?" Aurora teased. Keith flipped me off and turned around, beginning to walk away. I had embarrassed him and probably pissed him off but that wouldn't last long. I laughed as I tugged my old, faded, gray school shirt over my head and dropped it down on a pile of my stuff in the sand, stepping out of my sandals before I ran after my boyfriend. The sun was warm on my skin and the sand was a little hot but I could care less. Keith was pissed and I was too focused on him to care about anything else.

"Hey babe." I said, slowing my pace as I caught up to him. "Don't be mad. We were just joking around I didn't mean for it to sound... Like that."

"Yes you did Lance. You always do. You know I hate it when you tease me like that in front of everyone." He snapped back, glaring at me over his shoulder. I sighed. It kind of felt like the good old days when nearly everything I did pissed him off.

"You don't have to show me those shitty swim trunks Keith or get in the water if you don't want to. I just... I wanted to spend the day with you at the beach." Keith said nothing, just continued walking ahead of me. "You can sit in the sand all day if you want." I continued, wondering if he was even listening to me. "I'm sure Jeremy will find a way to keep me occupied down by the water." I joked.

"Whatever Lance." He muttered. I frowned, my shoulders falling a little. Damn. He must be madder than I thought. I caught up to him and grabbed his hand. He paused but didn't look back at me.

"Keith, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made that dumb joke. I'll try not to bring shit up like that." I watched him bite down in his bottom lip, thinking.

"Liar." He murmured finally looking back at me with a soft smile on his face. "You _thrive_ off of innuendos." I grinned.

"Yeah well now that I can't flirt with anyone, dirty jokes is how I get off." Keith snorts.

"No it isn't. I help with that part." I laughed a bit nervously, blushing red. Keith's weird bouts of confidence always catch me off guard. He dropped Allura's bag and put his hand on my arm, slowly moving it up to my shoulder before he reached the nape of my neck. His fingers lightly combed through my messy hair as I stepped closer to him.

"Frankly, I wasn't that mad. I just didn't want to forgive you that quickly just because you took your shirt off." I laughed, throwing back my head before wrapping my arms around his waist.

"What? It's not like you haven't seen me without my shirt off before." I said with a grin. Keith shrugged.

"I know! It's just..." he shrugged again

"Babe, you've seen me with _a lot_ more than my shirt off." He immediately punched me in the arm as I said this.

"Shut up Lance." He hissed. "What did we just talk about?" He demanded.

"How much I'm in love with you." Keith rolled his eyes. "And how you're just the cutest thing ever." I said, leaning in to kiss him quickly.

"Shut up." He said, shaking his head at me and shoving my shoulder. "I'll show you the damn swimsuit." Keith said, picking up the bag.

"Really!" I exclaimed as he rummaged through it a little.

"Yeah but I'm not wearing them today. If you really want me to get in the water, I'd rather just go in my damn underwear." I grinned.

"You wearing your Batman boxers?" Keith flipped me off before pulling out a very colorful piece of fabric from Allura's bag. I gasped as I grabbed it from him and held the swimsuit out in plain view.

"No way! I remember seeing this cringe worthy suit at Hot Topic!" Keith winced as if recalling a bad memory.

"Yeah, that's where it's from." I started to laugh as my eyes took in the galaxy print, and the weirdly placed cat in the crotch area.

"This is hilarious babe. I can just imagine thirteen year old you wearing this." Keith muttered something under his breath. "What?" I asked. Keith sighed.

"I was seventeen." I gasped louder.

"Even better!" I shouted. "That was only three years ago!!" I laughed as Keith snatched the trunks away from me and crumbled them into a ball.

"I'm throwing them away."

"No! We need to preserve this memory for future generations!" I shouted as he continued towards the trashcan nearby.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to tell our kids an embellished version of this story where you saw me wear cat printed swim trunks." There was a lot in that sentence to comment on but the thing that stuck with me was _our kids._

"Our kids?" I asked with a grin. Keith blushed red as he dumped the suit into the trash.

"Sh-Shut up. I wasn't thinking."

"You want to marry me?"

"God no!" Keith shouted, pushing past me and walking towards our group of friends.

"You want to spend the rest of your life with me?" He groaned loudly, cheeks still bright pink. "Oh I'm going to make your life a living hell babe." I said, throwing my arm over his shoulders. Keith scoffed a little but leaned into me all the same. "Can't wait to spend the rest of _our_ lives together, with _our_ kids, in _our_ home, in _our_ hometown." I continued, really emphasizing the _our_.

"I can't wait either." Keith said softly as he put his arm around me as well and kissed my cheek. "I really love you Lance." I smiled.

"I love you too Keith."


End file.
